ABSTRACT
The demand relationship (the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity of that good demanded) has long been a central construct of economic theory. Economic theory conventionally assumes that consumer demand curves are determined by the “maximization of utility” or preference. That is, the consumer demand relationship is the locus of price and quantity pairs such that the quantity demanded yields maximum utility or preference ranking at the given price.1 However, a large body of evidence from cognitive science, experimental economics and management studies indicates that people are not capable of judging maxima in many conditions.2 Instead, rationality consists of behaviour according to heuristic rules which, while not optimal, give satisfactory results in a wide range of cases.3
