Reference point is common concept in psychology and behavioural economics. It explains how the mental anchors people hold will influence in their decision-making process. In simple terms, reference points postulates that human decision-makings are not independent of surroundings or situations.
Recently, I believe Singapore has saw an episode that Singapore's subway system, a 24 year well serving system, broke down not 1, not 2, but 3 times. within a week. Singaporeans, as usual, were up in arms. However, I believe that some of the negativity Singaporeans experienced during this fiasco are due to their own high expectations of subway system. Largely in part, this high reference point is some kind of winner's curse, where the strong track record of the subway system has bitten itself, with Singaporeans experiencing their virgin subway disruption of such a great scale. In this aspect, the system should not be faulted for being excellent in for the past 24 years. Other countries, noticeably UK and Paris (as reported in the local newspaper), have subways that have much higher frequencies of disruptions, and fares that are also much higher.
In addition, I guess the negativity also stemmed from other aspects of the transportation system itself. Yes, subway and cab fares rose less than 6 months ago, a topic that I hope to discuss about in a future entry. Yes, this subway disruption was drastic. Some blame the population growth. Yet, I do believe there are areas in which the system can improve itself. For one, how the disruption was handled could have been improved. However, I have no aim of addressing this. My point is this: Singaporeans are setting their expectations too high, which I postulate it to be from the extremely high reference point that Singaporeans are used to adhere and live by. Maybe, we have been living too comfortably.
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