Economics · Level 2 · 175 words

The Coupon Only Some People Use

Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.

A grocery store could lower the price of soup for everyone. Instead, it prints a coupon. Any shopper may use it, but only some do. They must notice the offer, save it, and remember to present it. Those small tasks take time.

The coupon lets the store charge two prices for the same can. Shoppers who care strongly about saving money may accept the extra effort and pay less. Shoppers who value convenience more may pay the regular price. The product is unchanged; what differs is each buyer’s willingness to exchange time for a discount.

This method can help a store attract price-sensitive customers without cutting every sale. It does not prove that one group is wiser. A busy shopper may reasonably skip the coupon, while another shopper may enjoy searching for deals. Digital coupons can reduce the effort, although an account or app may create a different barrier. The important point is that the discount is not separated by chance alone. It asks customers to reveal something through what they are willing to do.

Comprehension questions

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4 questions
1. What is the main idea of the passage?

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C. Coupons let a store offer a lower price mainly to shoppers willing to spend effort to claim it.
The entire passage explains how the task of claiming a coupon separates shoppers by their willingness to trade effort for savings.

2. Why might a busy shopper skip a coupon?

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D. The saved money may be worth less to that shopper than the required time and attention.
The passage says convenience can matter more than the discount, so skipping it may be a reasonable tradeoff.

3. In this passage, what does “price-sensitive” mean?

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A. likely to change a buying choice in response to price
Price-sensitive customers care strongly about savings and may do extra work to obtain a lower price.

4. What new barrier can a digital coupon create?

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B. It may require an account or an app.
The final paragraph names an account or app as a different kind of barrier.

Source: Written for Fluency. Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.