Claire Spencer
Fall term of this school year I made my first ever hair appointment (shocking). Being that I was so new to this, I went out of my way to make sure I was doing everything I could to ensure it wouldn’t be a nightmare. Up until then, I had only ever had my mom cut my hair because I didn’t trust anyone else. However, my hair was reaching my hips and had been thinning at an increasingly rapid rate, so I knew it was time to let it go. In deciding which salon to go to I was dealing with opportunity costs in all sorts of ways (though I didn’t know it at the time as I’d never taken an economics class). The first choice I had to make was which salon to go to. I ultimately narrowed it down to two salons (Marguerite’s and City Image) since they had the best reviews of all the salons in Northfield (and I checked every single one). If I chose Marguerite’s, I would be going with the more popular salon, though the opportunity cost would have been (slightly) cheaper prices. I treasured my hair so I didn’t really worry about the price and tried to schedule an appointment with them, but they were full for the next four weeks. In fear of talking myself out of getting my hair cut off I scheduled an appointment at City Image, even though I knew the opportunity cost was (potentially) better quality and a much shorter walk from campus. However, their availability made up for it and I donated 12 inches of my hair that weekend.
Being that my hair was so precious to me I would consider my hair appointment price inelastic. I was willing to pay higher prices for a better cut (though City Image did a fantastic job). In addition, I am scheduling another appointment for next weekend to get it layered, and I am just as excited about this upcoming appointment as I was about the previous, but since my hair isn’t thinning rapidly I would say the marginal utility from the first hair appointment to this upcoming second one has decreased slightly. Finally, not only did I donate my hair in the fall, but I got it partially foiled black as well. I am currently deciding what I am going to do this time around with regards to coloring my hair. Adding color is expensive, especially for such subtle changes, but I can set up an imaginary budget constraint with one axis being an all over color job and the other axis being a full foil, with the connecting budget constraint showing all possible combinations of color, partial foils, and additional accent foils for no more than $80 (I set an $80 budget constraint for color since it shouldn’t need to surpass that).
Another way my appointment could relate to economics is that, since I donated my hair to Locks of Love, the entire cost of my appointment could have been tax deductible but I forgot to remind my dad about that before he did my taxes even though I kept the receipt. Bummer.
I agree that haircuts come with a degree of diminishing marginal utility. Every time I come home from Carleton, my mom tells me my hair looks “shaggy” (even though it always looks fine to me!) To appease her, I usually make a haircut appointment, but since I always feel like I just got one, each haircut seems to diminish in utility. I guess this difference just comes down to taste–my mom values frequent haircuts more than I. I’ve never had my hair cut at home, but I feel like that would have great economic value. I can easily spend up to $200 at the salon and not walk out feeling like a changed person (with better hair).
I have also had some difficulty picking a haircut place in Northfield. I think a lot of this has to do with the risk and uncertainty that comes with getting a haircut. You are entrusting a stranger with something that’s important to you, and there is always a fear that they could do a terrible job. For me, picking the right haircut place is about minimizing risk. It seems like you took some of the same steps I did by looking at reviews and consulting other students.