The perceived value trick is something that a lot of people have discovered independently. 

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performed by the psychoanalyst Ernest Dichter (who practised next to Freud in Vienna and set up the Institute for Motivational Research) for Betty Crocker Foods.

According to Betty Crocker Foods' own market research, their cake mix was being asked-for, so they couldn't figure out why was not selling. Dichter apparently conducted a series of focus groups where housewives free-associated about the cake mix. What's interesting is that Dichter's conclusions were nothing really to do with "perceived value"; he concluded, from the sessions, that the cake mix was a source of unconcious guilt for the housewives; it was essentially too care-free; too convenient. The addition of the egg served not only to break that barrier in terms of direct effort, but tied into notions of Freudian psychology (that the woman was literally giving of herself [i.e. her eggs] and thus demonstrating the appropriate care and commitment). It's a precedent-setting case as it was really the first time that serious psychoanalytic results were shown to have a massive influence on sales figures (above and beyond Bernays' efforts). It's regarded by some as the genesis of modern marketing.

I first came across it in 'The Engineering Of Consent' — episode two of Adam Curtis' documentary series 'Century Of The Self' (The section runs from roughly 18:00 to 24:00).