>"Ah yes. The creed of American media ..."

This statement regarding "perceived value" has nothing to do with "American media", "fake news" truth distorting or even politics.

It's baffling that you have chosen to stake such claims on the author.

Perceived value pricing is actually a marketing strategy. Its used in factoring pricing for everything from gym memberships, to luxury good and delivery services.

see: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/perceived-value.asp