Measuring the cost of making payment decisions

This short paper proposes a simple method of calibrating for the non-monetary costs associated with using different payment plans. These non-monetary costs often lead consumers to choose a flat-rate subscription plan rather than paying separately for each unit of consumption, despite the fact that the pay-per-use plan turns out to be cheaper ex post. The calibration results hint that these costs are relatively higher for “inexpensive” services than for “expensive” services.