Paywall Times mentioned recently how The Economist fell a bit flat with their Cyber Monday promotion. One thing the magazine does do exceptionally well, however, is pricing.In an oldie-but-goodie TED talk video, Duke professor Dan Ariel discussed how he showed 100 MIT students pricing options as presented on The Economist’s online subscription form. The first version had three prices, but out of 100 students, no one chose the middle option. Ariel wondered why a subscription marketer would promote a pricing option that no one would pick. Circulation marketing pros, of course, have known the answer for eons, which is that using one price to emphasize the value of another ultimately sells more of a higher priced product. Ariel then proved that point by showing 100 students a version of the offer with just two prices.By the way, our sister Site Subscription Site Insider has published both an on-demand video and a report on pricing psychology for membership and subscription sites. Check them out if you’re interested!