It's not even a genuine economic law (in the sense that, say, The Law of Demand is.) If you google it, it seems to come up mostly as a "law of persuasion" - i.e., a sales and marketing thing.
But in any case, it certainly doesn't seem to be a trope, any more than The Law Of Demand is.
Oh. And there are more.... Looks like Useful Notes territory at best, but probably not all that useful, either.
edited 27th Oct '10 2:46:11 PM by suedenim
Jet-a-Reeno!Seemingly, of tropes that are not based on this concept too i.e. not a great index.
Perhaps it is just badly explained. It feels like Perceived Value was made just to explain something in this page which doesn't seem really necessary for the phrase "perceived value".
edited 27th Oct '10 3:24:04 PM by SomeSortOfTroper
It sure has a lot of text for an index. Here are my guesses for how the indexed tropes are intended to relate to this trope. Index. Trindex.
- Artifact of Doom - In part, doomy artifacts are interesting because they are rare within a work.
- Big Red Button - As well as being able to activate something powerful, big red buttons are interesting because they are rare within a work.
- Forbidden Fruit - If something is forbidden, characters want it in part for the sheer novelty.
- Functional Value - Related to the trope by being an alternative non-exclusive measure of value.
- It's Popular, Now It Sucks! - Some fans find a small fanclub feels more important than a big one.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business - We notice departures from ordinary behaviour and value them because they are rare.
- Perceived Value - Rarity value as a matter of pure perception.
- Precision F-Strike - If there is little swearing in a work we sit and take notice when there is.
- Reverse Psychology - I don't get this.
- Social Engineering - Getting people to come to your birthday party by remarking how few people are going to make the cut, and so forth.
- Uniqueness Value - The endpoint of The Law Of Scarcity.
edited 27th Oct '10 8:45:09 PM by Camacan
I think for Big Red Button it would be more accurate to put it in terms of "This console has many small, blue buttons, and one big red button. The fact that the red button is unique on the console draws our attention." Think about it, if there was a console with 8 big red buttons surrounding one small blue button, which would catch your attention? the big shiny ones, or the one that's unique?
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If that is what the index is about... It's terrible and not worth keeping. Seriously, that is a tenuous connection a best. And even then... If that is the most relevant we can make this then Cut it with fire
This can be a valid trope, about situations where the McGuffin is valuable only for it's rarity. Surely there are more then three straight examples out there somewhere.
In it's current form, it's useless.
So: Cut it, and if anyone bothers then reincarnate it on YKTTW.
Personally I'n not interested, but in case someone else care to write a real description and gather examples, here's one where the concept is debated:
- In one Dilbert strip, Dilbert claims that value is based on rarity alone. Dogbert leave him speachless by asking if diamonds would have the same value if they looked like rasins.

The Law Of Scarcity + Perceived Value + Functional Value = Bullshit?
This is not a trope, this isn't even something to do with fiction, it's an economics concept, one I can't find any other evidence for being used elsewhere so it roughly holds the level of "proselytising through the wiki".
edited 27th Oct '10 2:37:16 PM by SomeSortOfTroper