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Consider the office birthday party and your slice of cake looks slightly smaller than some. Eh, probably no big deal. Now imagine that instead of cake, everyone got cash. And you got three bucks, while some others got four.
设想一下，在办公室的生日聚会上，你手里的那块蛋糕看起来比别人的小。额，也许没什么大不了。再不妨想象一下，如果每个人分到的不是蛋糕而是现金。譬如你分到了三块钱，而其他人分到了四块。
Researchers did this experiment. One group of subjects got cake slices of varying sizes. The other group got cash. Everyone could see what others in their group received. And those in the cash group who received less money than others were upset. But for the cake group, where the size of slices was harder to measure, everyone was equally happy. The study is in the Journal of Consumer Research.
研究人员做了这个实验。一组受试者分到了大小各异的蛋糕。另一组分到的则是金额不等的现金。每个人都能看见小组里其他成员分到了什么。现金组中那些分到较少现金的人比其他人要沮丧。但对于蛋糕组而言，很难衡量蛋糕的大小，因此每个人都一样开心。这项研究发表在《消费者研究》杂志上。
In another trial, researchers found that subjects were unhappy when they missed out on a deal that had a specific quantity associated with it, like “buy one, get one free” versus a more vague deal that said, “get a larger bottle at the regular price.”
在另一项试验中，研究人员发现受试者在错过一次数量较为具体的交易，比如说“买一赠一”的活动后，也会感到不高兴。反之，对错过“加量不加价”这样比较模糊的交易就不会感到不开心。
The researchers note that when you can't easily measure something, you tend to be more focused on the experience that the good offers. They even say that we might be happier in a barter economy. Although it's easier to carry cash than a lot of trade-able goods.
研究人员指出，当人们不能轻易测量某事时，就会更倾向于关注商品带给你的体验。他们甚至说道：人类在以物易物的经济时代可能会更开心。尽管带金钱会比带大量的交换品更简单。
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