Petrol prices fall too slowly: the rocket-and-spring effect

The crude oil price recently fell and increased several times, only because of Trump’s customs capades, then through the crisis in the Middle East. Drivers are used to the fact that the oil price also affects the gasoline costs. However, it is anything but fair.

“The price changes at the petrol pump are only noticeable,” explains cartel president Andreas Mundt. “We see that price increases are passed on much faster than price cuts.” In this context, the cartel office speaks of the “Rocket-and-Feather-Effect” (in German: “Rakete-and-Feder effect”).

This effect is a widespread phenomenon in the economy. If the purchase prices for companies rise, they quickly pass on the higher costs to protect your profit margin. The prices rise as quickly as rockets. If your shopping costs fall, the temptation is great not to pass it on. Especially not, even if none of the competitors pretended. So far, so logical. Even if this is anything but fair for customers.

But there is another reason why prices fall as slowly as bird feathers. The financial economist recently pointed out. Every major price change is a signal for the customer that has changed something essential on the market. This knowledge brings the customer out of his usual processes. He starts to think about whether he should change the brand. The providers want to avoid that.

For example, this is the reason why many food manufacturers prefer to reduce the filling quantity than to change the price. . As a company, you don’t want to irritate your own customers.

The cartel office has been studying the market behavior of the oil companies and for a long time. The interests of the corporations are very similar and they are also intertwined by shared participations in refineries.

In the meantime, the market transparency center of the cartel office has been making prices at the petrol stations public for over eleven years. Customers can see from apps where the cheapest place is to refuel near. In theory, this should actually prevent something like a “rocket-and-spring effect”. But that is obviously not the case.

Instead, the petrol stations have changed the price slightly again and again throughout the day, sometimes even every quarter. After observing the cartel office, the petrol stations are currently changing their prices on average 22 times a day. At the beginning of the price transparency, no more than four to five changes were common.

In a way, the mineral oil companies have started the escape to the front: they change the prices so regularly that the customers dull over them. The constant change is the new. That does it. Except with a petrol station app, such as Clever-tanken.de or the Drive app of the ADAC.

At the market transparency, there are always complaints that the prices from apps could no longer be found at the petrol station when the customers had finally arrived there. The cartel office has therefore examined how likely it is to still fill up with cheap. Result: Even after eight hours, the cheapest petrol station found was still the cheapest in two out of three cases – compared to the neighboring five providers.

Despite all the confusion, there is a great probability of being good with the tank app, even if you need a little longer to the petrol pump. It is absolutely certain: refueling on highways is always a bad idea: there the fuel is an average of 40 cents more expensive.