Cenk Uygur
@TheYoungTurks·6.5M subscribers·72.8K videos
Uber Knows When Customers Will Pay Highest Surge Prices
Posted
May 21, 2016
Views
113,043
Likes
1,507
Comments
366
Engagement
1.66%
May 21, 2016
113,043
1,507
366
1.66%
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7:29Now PlayingUber has the technology to see inside your smartphone, including how long until your battery dies. They’ve realized people are much more likely to accept surge prices when their charge is low. Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, and Brett Erlich (Pop Trigger), hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“...And, not surprisingly, the company has figured out exactly when you are more likely to pay double or triple the cost of your ride: when your phone battery is low.
Uber’s head of economic research, Keith Chen, recently told NPR’s Shankar Vedantam on an episode of The Hidden Brain podcast that people are willing to accept up to 9.9 times surge pricing (ouch) if their phones are about to go dead. Data about user batteries is collected because the app uses that information to know when to switch into low-power mode. The idea being: If you really need to get where you’re going, you’ll pay just about anything (or at least 9.9 times anything) to ensure you’re getting a ride home and won’t be stranded. A person with a more fully charged device has time to wait and see if the surge pricing goes down.
Chen called it an “interesting kind of psychological fact of human behavior,” and promised that the company is not using that data to gouge riders.”*
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Hosts: Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, Brett Erlich
Cast: Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, Brett Erlich
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Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. Young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations. (American Heritage Dictionary)
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