You must have read about how one can rent an entire family in Japan. Or even hire an attractive man to help release your bottled-up stress, called Ikemeso Danshi. These kinds of services could raise eyebrows elsewhere but are perfectly fine in Japan. Loneliness is an epidemic there, and people are overcoming it through various ideas, sometimes by commercialising them.
These kinds of services may not be that controversial. But prostitution, the sale of drugs or organs, votes, and nowadays, the sale of one's data or privacy, could raise more voices across the globe. So, the question is what can be commercialised and what cannot? Where do we draw the line? What seems morally correct and what doesn't fit that compass? Some believe that economists can turn every act commercial and even make it sound ethical. But that's not completely true.
Same Body, Different Treatment
Let's talk about the human body. A kidney cannot be sold almost anywhere except in Iran, but there's no issue in selling hair, donating eggs and sperm, or becoming a surrogate. The body is the same, but society treats different parts differently.
Or take prostitution. Some countries have legalised and regulated it, while in many others it exists in a legal grey zone. Similarly, intimate scenes and pornography are tolerated to varying degrees. But there is near-universal agreement that child pornography and human trafficking will not be tolerated.
Then, we have an example of life insurance in America. It was once considered a bet against the divine and thus immoral. But a change in its marketing transformed the industry.
The point is that the moral line is never fixed. We treat one body part separately from the others. The line moves with time, place, and crisis, and is even subjective.
Relationship Between Premium Pricing & Morality
This is the starting point for any honest discussion of morality and pricing. When society feels something is morally unacceptable, it usually reacts in one of several ways.
One is straightforward: people stop buying. As demand falls, the market quietly discontinues that product or service. A restaurant in a predominantly vegetarian neighbourhood may stop serving non-vegetarian food because it no longer makes commercial sense. Here, the market complements society's reaction. It's easy to manage due to lower government interference and friction.
But when the state steps in, it usually has four options: regulate the activity, ban it completely, prohibit it partially, or keep it legal but tax it.
Outright prohibition is the strictest one, but it has its own consequences. Many countries, for instance, ban recreational drugs. Bans create a black market, smuggling and organised crime, in turn raising prices. A softer approach is partial prohibition. Here, consumption may be decriminalised while production and trafficking remain illegal. The third option is regulation, as in the Netherlands with cannabis. The most common approach, however, is taxation. Cigarettes and alcohol remain legal but attract high "sin taxes" to discourage consumption while generating revenue.
In one way or another, the 'vices' become more expensive because of risks or taxes.
Interestingly, the 'virtues' attract a premium too. Nationalism may drive demand for locally produced goods even when cheaper imported alternatives exist. Similarly, consumers often pay extra for organic, cruelty-free, responsibly sourced, or environmentally friendly products.
Morality, therefore, can push prices up at both ends of the spectrum.
Hypocrisy, Evolution & Contradictions
But our moral compass is often contradictory.
We may condemn corruption, but pay a bribe to traffic police to avoid getting a challan. We could also be against "profiteering" until we need something urgently and can afford to pay more. Most of us want farmers to be profitable, neighbourhood retail stores to survive despite large shopping malls, or regional plays and movies to flourish. But when it is our turn to support them by paying a little more, we often choose the cheaper option instead.
This is not necessarily hypocrisy. Our moral choices are situational and may not always be rational. We constantly balance values against convenience, affordability, and self-interest.
But that also means people's behaviours and social norms can change in the long run, as insurance worked in the US after being defamed as immoral once upon a time. One of the glaring examples is the global decline in alcohol consumption. Rising health awareness, shifting youth culture, changing social habits, and new substitutes have reduced consumption in many places even without major price shocks or government actions. This shows that bans, price hikes, taxation and other forms of restrictions may have little impact compared to changes in people's behaviours.
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If you were expecting a simple answer about what should and shouldn't be commercialised, you won't find one. That's because morality itself rarely offers black-and-white answers. It changes with time, place, culture, crises, and even with the role we occupy.
We have looked at this debate from the consumer's point of view. Sellers and governments often arrive at very different moral conclusions because they face different incentives, constraints, and responsibilities. In the next part, we'll step into their shoes and see why the same price that feels immoral to one person may be justified to another.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NDTV Profit or its affiliates. Readers are advised to conduct their own research or consult a qualified professional before making any investment or business decisions. NDTV Profit does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented in this article.
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