Question

A restaurant critic for a newspaper examines the prices restaurants charge for their meals and discovers that the restaurants that raised their prices most over the past year also have the longest wait times for tables.
Which statement is a reasonable explanation for this relationship?

Increasing prices may cause customers to want to visit those restaurants more.
Restaurants that do not raise their prices may not see an increase in customers.
When customers wait longer for tables, they are more likely to pay higher prices.
Higher-quality restaurants might charge more for meals and could also have longer wait times.

Answer 1

Answer:

When customers wait longer for tables, they are more likely to pay higher prices.

Step-by-step explanation:

Supply/Demand relationships predict that changing one side will influence the other.  If demand exceeds capacity, suppliers can raise prices without risk of losing products sold.  In fact, total income will rise.  The restaurant may raise it's price to the point that supply meets demand.  In this case, the goal of the higher priced meals is to reduce wait times, not meals sold.  If the meals sold are all at a higher price/meal, then income rises and wait times are reduced.  What's not to like, if you own the restaurant?