Memory for prices and the euro cash changeover: an analysis for cinema prices in Italy

The lively debate in the post-changeover period shows that consumers have strong opinions on inflation. In principle, this implies that they should be able to calculate, at least roughly, the rate of change in the prices of the wide range of goods and services included in the official index, given that inflation is the rate of change of these prices between two moments in time. To do so, however, they need to remember the past prices of these products. Even considering the individual's personal experience of inflation, rather than the average inflation in a country, consumers should at least be able to remember the past prices of the products that make up their personal consumption basket. The question addressed by this study is whether they actually can.