might well be true that consumers were not paying any more under the new regime, but they were missing out on lots of transaction utility. They even lost that tiny pleasure of paying just “under” a given dollar amount, e.g., $9.99 rather than $10. The experiment was a flop. JC Penney’s sales and stock price plummeted as the changes took effect in 2012. A year later, Johnson was ousted and coupons returned to JC Penney customers.
