Why does everything cost more but feel worth less?

The coffee costs more and the cup is smaller. The airline seat costs more and the legroom is gone. The subscription went up and they added ads. Somewhere along the way, paying more stopped meaning getting more.

Companies call it efficiency. Customers feel it as a quiet downgrade, and they notice more than businesses think. Every small cut is defensible on a spreadsheet. Added together, they teach people that the brand is no longer on their side.

The businesses that win the next few years may be the ones that do the opposite: hold the line on quality and say so out loud. In a market full of shrinking, being the one that didn't shrink is a story people will repeat.