June 23 What Drives People to Take a Creative License? (Wall Street Journal)

Even if people like vanity plates, that doesn't mean they'll be willing to pay more for them. Erik Craft, an associate professor of economics at the University of Richmond, did a study on the elasticity of demand for vanity plates published in 2002 that found that each dollar increase in the price of vanity plates decreased the percentage of plates personalized by about 0.1%. He says that is statistically significant.

However, Mr. Craft's study also found a positive correlation between vanity plates and age: Each increase of the proportion of the population aged 25-34 raised the percentage of personalized plates by 0.8%.

That fits with Mr. Craft's personal theory that one reason people buy vanity plates is to attract members of the opposite sex. After all, he says that's why he owned plates when he was single that said "SVEV," a reference to a sensual Swedish folk dance that he hoped would get the attention of Scandinavian women. After he married, he took the plates off his car.