Stated-Revealed Preference Gap

Stated-revealed preference gap is the difference between what people say they want and what their choices show they prioritize. In Spirit Airlines and the future of cheap flights, the gap appears when passengers complain about [[SpiritAirlines|Spirit Airlines]]’ fees, discomfort, and lack of included services but still buy Spirit tickets because the fare is cheap.

The concept matters because it makes customer interviews and surveys incomplete evidence. Spirit could perform badly in satisfaction measures and still change the airline market if enough customers revealed that low price outweighed comfort at purchase time.

Key Claims

• Stated preferences capture what customers endorse, remember, or complain about.
• Revealed preferences capture behavior under budget constraints and real alternatives.
• A disliked product can be commercially powerful if it wins at the moment of choice.
• The gap can shrink when competitors copy the low-price feature without the same sacrifice.

Connections

• [[SpiritAirlines|Spirit Airlines]], [[BarbaraDingus|Barbara Dingus]], and Consumer Reports - source case, employee observation, and survey contrast.
• Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier Model and Airline Unbundling - business model that exposed the gap.
• Price Elasticity / 价格弹性, Low Price Brand Perception, and Basic Economy Copycat Strategy - adjacent demand and competition concepts.