Noka Chocolates Show that Marketing Isn't Rational

The New York Times reported about $2000 a pound candy from Dallas-based Nobo, a story that's been making rounds on food blogs. That's staggeringly expensive, even when compared to top chocolatiers around the country. To explain the phenomenon, reporter Damon Darlin went to one economist after another, who couldn't find a rational explanation.

That's because there is no rational explanation, and anyone experienced in business could have told him so. Marketing is not a rational process, and no one buys products on a rational basis. No one. Not I, not you, not Mr. Darlin, not the couple that owns Nobo - no one. Sure, there are things you will get because you need them, but that's probably a small part of purchasing. And once you identify a need, reason takes a holiday while emotion leaps into place. In this case, there are many emotional needs that such a purchase can feed. For example, there's ego, showing that you can afford an extravagance. There's trying to make the recipient feel small and incapable of returning the favor. Such a gift could let the giver feel safe, offering something abundant and yet clinically antiseptic. (Notice in the story how the chocolate comes in a stainless steel case - certainly an image of cold cleanliness.)

I could go on and still cover only a portion of the emotional triggers of such a purchase. But the point isn't a list. You can only start to understand business if you begin to understand how people work, and that's what makes commerce one of the most intently human activities there is.