The Psychology and Science of The Price is Right

Posted by ryan at 11:52 AM in television . | 1 Comments

"Twelve-hundred..... and one!" Everyone knows the blocking trick used by contestants during the bidding portion of the Price is Right. Bidding Behavior in the Price is Right Game: An Experimental Study takes a look at the optimal strategies for the game vs. the actual strategies used by players.

"In their analysis of the data from The Price is Right, BHV find major discrepancies between the data from the television program and the subgame perfect equilibrium of the bidding game. For example, it is always optimal for bidder 4 (the fourth and last mover) in the game to either (a) cut off one of the other three bidders by bidding higher than the other bidder by the minimum permissible bid increment, or to (b) bid the minimum possible value. BHV observe that in over 43% of instances, players do not choose from that simple subset of their strategy set.