Please explain:
With gas prices locked at well above $3 a gallon, some retailers and manufacturers are trying to get more shoppers back on the road by picking up some costs at the pump. ...
Even when the gas deals do not save shoppers that much money — the Wal-Mart promotion saves consumers about $1.60 per fillup for a 16-gallon tank — they can give them a psychological lift.
Cheryl Moore, 35, a mother of three in Spokane, Wash., said that when gas increased to $3.88 a gallon at nearby stations, she cut back on shopping trips. While she used to shop every day for food and other staples, she now goes twice a week.
“Now it’s like, well, wait a minute, let’s carpool; or, maybe we can wait another day and do everything in one day, because it’s just so stinking expensive,” she said.
Ms. Moore uses lots of coupons. But she said that somehow saving $10 on gas, as the Kellogg’s promotion offers, for example, seemed much more appealing than saving the equivalent amount on groceries through coupons.
via www.nytimes.com
I don't understand but it would be really great if someone can figure it out and design a policy lever that overcomes it, something cheaper than fuel economy standards. As far as I can tell, there is nothing in neoclassical economics that can help (i.e., did I mention I don't understand?).
