In a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that people given identical pills received greater pain relief from the one they were told cost $2.50 than from one supposedly costing 10 cents.”We all know that we expect more from products with high prices and good names and we wanted to see if these things could change how we react to pain medication,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology behavioral economist Dan Ariely, who led the research. “The answer seems to be yes.”
Ariely said the findings might help explain why many people report that generic drugs are less effective than their branded equivalents and why a substantial number of patients prefer such costly pain relievers as Celebrex to cheap alternatives such as aspirin.
Los Angeles Times
