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Pay-what-you-want pricing: Can it be profitable?

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  • Chao, Yong
  • Fernandez, Jose
  • Nahata, Babu

Abstract

Using a game theoretic framework, we show that not only can pay-what-you-want pricing generate positive profits, but it can also be more profitable than charging a fixed price to all consumers. Further, whenever it is more profitable, it is also Pareto-improving. We derive conditions in terms of two cost parameters, namely the marginal cost parameter for the seller, and the social preference parameter of a consumer to incorporate behavioral considerations for paying too little compared to her reference price.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao, Yong & Fernandez, Jose & Nahata, Babu, 2015. "Pay-what-you-want pricing: Can it be profitable?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 176-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:57:y:2015:i:c:p:176-185
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2014.09.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Luis Wagner, 2019. "Lowering consumers’ price image without lowering their internal reference price: the role of pay-what-you-want pricing mechanism," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 332-341, August.
    2. Park, Sangkon & Nam, Sohyun & Lee, Jungmin, 2017. "Charitable giving, suggestion, and learning from others: Pay-What-You-Want experiments at a coffee shop," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 16-22.
    3. Mills, Paul & Groening, Christopher, 2021. "The role of social acceptability and guilt in unethical consumer behavior: Following the crowd or their own moral compass?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 377-388.
    4. Britta Butz & Christine Harbring, 2022. "Tipping for charity: a field experiment in charitable giving on free walking tours," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(5), pages 781-808, July.
    5. Samahita Margaret, 2020. "Pay-What-You-Want in Competition," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Chao, Yong & Fernandez, Jose & Nahata, Babu, 2019. "Pay-what-you-want pricing under competition: Breaking the Bertrand Trap," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Reisman, Richard & Payne, Adrian & Frow, Pennie, 2019. "Pricing in consumer digital markets: A dynamic framework," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 139-148.
    8. Christoph Feldhaus & Tassilo Sobotta & Peter Werner, 2019. "Norm Uncertainty and Voluntary Payments in the Field," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1855-1866, April.
    9. Tudón M., José F., 2015. "Pay-what-you-want because I do not know how much to charge you," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 41-44.
    10. Fraiman, Daniel, 2022. "A self-organized criticality participative pricing mechanism for selling zero-marginal cost products," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Tobias Regner & Gerhard Riener, 2017. "Privacy Is Precious: On the Attempt to Lift Anonymity on the Internet to Increase Revenue," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 318-336, June.
    12. Roggentin, Agnes Sophie, 2019. "Applicability of Pay-What-You-Want to High-Value Goods – A Case Study," Marketing Review St.Gallen, Universität St.Gallen, Institut für Marketing und Customer Insight, vol. 36(5), pages 56-63.
    13. Gerpott Torsten J., 2016. "A review of the empirical literature on Pay-What-You-Want price setting," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 11(4), pages 566-596, December.
    14. Rabbanee, Fazlul K. & Roy, Rajat & Sharma, Piyush, 2022. "Contextual differences in the moderating effects of price consciousness and social desirability in pay-what-you-want (PWYW) pricing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 13-25.
    15. Emili Vizuete-Luciano & Oktay Güzel & José M. Merigó, 2023. "Bibliometric research of the Pay-What-You-Want Topic," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(5), pages 413-426, October.
    16. Bitsch, Linda & Hanf, Jon & Hildenbrand, Andreas & Pabst, Evelyn & Schilling, Ulrich, 2017. "Partizipative Preissetzung bei Weinverkostungen: Ein Pay-What-You-Want-Experiment," 57th Annual Conference, Weihenstephan, Germany, September 13-15, 2017 261994, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    17. Stangl, Brigitte & Kastner, Margit & Prayag, Girish, 2017. "Pay-what-you-want for high-value priced services: Differences between potential, new, and repeat customers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 168-174.
    18. Martin Spann & Robert Zeithammer & Marco Bertini & Ernan Haruvy & Sandy D. Jap & Oded Koenigsberg & Vincent Mak & Peter Popkowski Leszczyc & Bernd Skiera & Manoj Thomas, 2018. "Beyond Posted Prices: the Past, Present, and Future of Participative Pricing Mechanisms," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 121-136, March.
    19. Geneviève Bassellier & Jui Ramaprasad, 2023. "All External Reference Prices Are Not the Same: How Magnitude, Source, and Fairness Shape Payment for Digital Goods," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 1761-1774, December.
    20. Bart Neuts, 2020. "Mixed pricing strategies in museums: Examining the potential of voluntary contributions for capturing consumer surplus," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(1), pages 115-136, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pay-what-you-want; Monopoly; Behavioral economics; Voluntary payment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

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