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Culture, Relationship Norms, and Dual Entitlement

Author

Listed:
  • Haipeng (Allan) Chen
  • Lisa E Bolton
  • Sharon Ng
  • Dongwon Lee
  • Dian Wang
  • Vicki MorwitzEditor
  • Sharon ShavittAssociate Editor

Abstract

According to the dual entitlement principle, consumers find it fair for firms to price asymmetrically to cost changes—that is, for firms to increase prices when costs increase but maintain prices when costs decrease. However, a meta-analysis reveals asymmetric pricing is less prevalent in collectivistic (vs. individualistic) countries (study 1). We propose a fairness-based explanation, demonstrating that interdependent consumers in collectivistic cultures perceive asymmetric pricing to be less fair than do independent consumers in individualistic cultures (studies 2, 4, and 5). We attribute this cultural variation to culture-specific relationship norms. Specifically, we argue that while the practice of asymmetric pricing is consistent with the exchange norms among independent consumers that emphasize self-interest pursuit, it is inconsistent with the communal norms among interdependent consumers mandating firm benevolence. Supporting this argument, we find that (a) directly manipulating communal (vs. exchange) norms yields similar differences in fairness perceptions that mimic those due to culture (study 3), (b) the cultural differences are mediated by the communal mandate for firm benevolence (study 4), and (c) the cultural differences are mitigated when a firm frames asymmetric pricing as benevolent (study 5). We conclude by discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Haipeng (Allan) Chen & Lisa E Bolton & Sharon Ng & Dongwon Lee & Dian Wang & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Sharon ShavittAssociate Editor, 2018. "Culture, Relationship Norms, and Dual Entitlement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 45(1), pages 1-20.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:45:y:2018:i:1:p:1-20.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucx118
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Danila Medvedev & Diag Davenport & Thomas Talhelm & Yin Li, 2024. "The motivating effect of monetary over psychological incentives is stronger in WEIRD cultures," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 456-470, March.
    2. Bertini, Marco & Buehler, Stefan & Halbheer, Daniel, 2020. "Pricing and Supply Chain Transparency to Conscientious Consumers," Economics Working Paper Series 2020, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    3. Lu, Zhi & Bolton, Lisa E. & Ng, Sharon & Chen, Haipeng (Allan), 2020. "The Price of Power: How Firm’s Market Power Affects Perceived Fairness of Price Increases," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 220-234.
    4. Wenjing Dou & Wei Lu & Dian Wang & Brady Hodges & Haipeng (Allan) Chen, 2020. "I Paid More than You (Before)?! The Effects of Self-Construal and Comparison Target on Price Unfairness Perceptions," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 7(1), pages 12-18, June.
    5. Levy, Daniel & Snir, Avichai & Gotler, Alex & Chen, Haipeng (Allan), 2020. "Not all price endings are created equal: Price points and asymmetric price rigidity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue forthcomi.
    6. Park, Sehoon & Kim, Chaeyeong & Park, Jane, 2023. "How power distance belief, self-construal, and relationship norms impact conspicuous consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Shavitt, Sharon & Barnes, Aaron J., 2020. "Culture and the Consumer Journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 40-54.
    8. Liu, Fu & Wei, Haiying & Wang, Xingyuan & Zhu, Zhenzhong & Chen, Haipeng Allan, 2023. "The influence of online review dispersion on consumers’ purchase intention: The moderating role of dialectical thinking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    9. Huachao Gao & Yinlong Zhang, 2022. "How does power distance belief impact consumers’ responses to demotion in hierarchical loyalty programs? The dual processes of monetary and psychological losses," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 822-840, July.

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