111 an interchange value, usually an economic value” 58. The cost of the merchandises is not an inherent characteristic, but is a judgment about them emitted by subjects. Simmel59 suggests that objects are not hard to acquire for its high value, we call valued those objects that resists our desire to posses them.
The sense of the qualities in market A market could be modeled as a set of individuals; each of them elects whether or not to buy a product based on internal measures60 – personal judgements –. These internal measures enforce the election. The dimensions of these measures are valuation and appreciation.
Consistent with he concept that a force of behavior is what leads the individual election, the value is defined as the measure of the consumers election. Is the sum of its appreciation of the object plus which he / she is disposed to sacrifice for it – its price –.
This means that the design efforts must be oriented towards the increase of the perceived value of the product. It is not only about product design like transforming elements of flows( matter, energy, signal), like physical forms that supports a function. As aforesaid, cost is relative and must be always compared with something, as the weight must be compared with a patter( the scale). That something is value.
To remark the qualities in the objects by any mean, publicity in example, has the objective of making the value customers perceive in the objects to be as high as possible, in such a way that customers becomes disposed to sacrifice a lot to
58 Some academics think that the objects, even they have an interchange value, if don’ t have an economic
value, are not merchandises. This would destroy the concept of market in the societies when the commerce is based on barter. Note of the author 59 George Simmel. Philosophy of money. Cited in Arjun Appadurai The social life of things Ref.
60 Restrepo, John. Isomorphism Biology Technology as a conceptual design tool. Eafit University. 1997. Ref