Value capture (and the minibar)
No one freely buys anything unless it’s worth more than it costs.
And so, in a competitive market, organizations will compete to capture as little value as they can afford to, offering the most surplus to the customer, because that’s how they can grow and thrive.
And monopolies (and organizations that would like to profit as they do) work to create situations where the customer has no real options, so they can capture almost all the value that’s created.
That’s why nuts at the minibar cost so much. The goal is to price them a penny less than they’re worth to the traveler in that moment.
Value creation is a worthwhile goal. Capturing all of that value might not be.