Consumers torn between high octane or regular gas

By Troy Daugherty

A recent study released by JPMorgan Chase found that when gas prices drop, the sales of premium gas increases.

The study’s results seem to suggest that when gas prices decrease, rather than saving the money, a lot of people simply switch to buying premium gasoline instead.

A lot of the logic behind this seems to derive from the fact that families will set back a certain amount of money for gas and if they do not need to spend it all, they do anyway.

It found that people would make unnecessary fuel purchases and upgrade their fuel so they could still spend the money they had planned to spend on gas.

This may sound ridiculous, but the study was legitimate in finding that people don’t save when prices drop.

So, do the students of HCC do this? No, seems to be the overwhelming majority.

Out of some 30 students questioned, all 30 of them answered “No” to switching to a different type of fuel when the price falls.

In fact, nearly every student asked, responded by saying, “Why would you do that?”

They were stunned that anyone would do that because they said it did not make sense to randomly change from one gasoline type to another. Also, unleaded fuel runs 10-20 cents cheaper on average.

Many of the students also were not sure if it would actually be good on their vehicle to switch back and forth.

Premium fuel isn’t more pure and doesn’t go through a superior refining process. It even fails to keep your engine cleaner, as some people believe. Premium fuel is gas that contains a mixture of hydrocarbons that are slightly less combustible than those found in lower octane gas.

Who is switching to premium then if no one at HCC is doing it? Well, possibly those in metropolitan areas. It’s possible that in large cities, people think premium gas may be able to help their vehicles run a little better while driving on expressways.

Regardless, the study did say that people made more unnecessary purchases when the prices were down, which makes it an illogical phenomenon.

In general, consumers can save themselves a little money if they stick with the low-grade unleaded.

Views: 53