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An appraisal of behavioral price research (part 1): price as a physical stimulus

Author

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  • Lillian L. Cheng
  • Kent B. Monroe

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

How do buyers judge prices? How do they know whether a product or service is priced reasonably, is a good deal or is too expensive? Do buyers perceive all price increases and all price promotions? Do price promotions and price increases necessarily change buyer behavior? How do buyers process the plethora of price information they encounter each day? Economists contend that price primarily represents the monetary sacrifice to obtain a product or service. Behavioral price researchers argue that more complex phenomena are involved. Buyers have individual, internal norms against which they judge prices. There are threshold points below which buyers do not perceive price changes. There are also specific ranges of prices buyers find acceptable for a particular product. Despite over four decades of behavioral price research, we know little about the root causes of these buyer responses to price information. This article is the first of several planned essays that will review the historical, theoretical and empirical developments in the field of behavioral price research. In this first review, we examine the core concepts behind buyer responses to price as well as the complex way that people process numbers. The objective of these essays is to bring focus to, clarify conceptual definitions, examine empirical developments and raise future research questions for this field of study.

Suggested Citation

  • Lillian L. Cheng & Kent B. Monroe, 2013. "An appraisal of behavioral price research (part 1): price as a physical stimulus," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 103-129, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:3:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-013-0041-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s13162-013-0041-1
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    1. Aku-Ville Lehtimäki & Kent B. Monroe & Outi Somervuori, 2019. "The influence of regular price level (low, medium, or high) and framing of discount (monetary or percentage) on perceived attractiveness of discount amount," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(1), pages 76-85, February.
    2. Manoj Thomas, 2013. "Commentary on behavioral price research: the role of subjective experiences in price cognition," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 141-145, September.
    3. Nicole Koschate-Fischer & Katharina Wüllner, 2017. "New developments in behavioral pricing research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(6), pages 809-875, August.
    4. Seung Hwan (Shawn) Lee & Scott Fay, 2017. "Why offer lower prices to past customers? Inducing favorable social price comparisons to enhance customer retention," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 123-163, June.
    5. Angela Y. Lee, 2013. "A Closer look at reference price: A commentary," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 151-154, September.
    6. Morlotti, Chiara & Mantin, Benny & Malighetti, Paolo & Redondi, Renato, 2024. "Price volatility of revenue managed goods: Implications for demand and price elasticity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 312(3), pages 1039-1058.
    7. Akshay R. Rao, 2013. "How and why is price perceived: a commentary on Cheng and Monroe," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 146-150, September.
    8. Robert Sinclair & Jess Diamond, 2022. "Basic food and drink price distributions transcend time and culture," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    9. Bambauer-Sachse, Silke & Massera, Laura, 2015. "Interaction effects of different price claims and contextual factors on consumers' reference price adaptation after exposure to a price promotion," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 63-73.
    10. von Schéele, Fabian & Haftor, Darek M. & Pashkevich, Natallia, 2020. "Cognitive time as a service price determinant: Hidden dynamics and price collapse," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 248-253.
    11. Keith S. Coulter, 2013. "Commentary on: “an appraisal of behavioral price research (Part I)”," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 135-140, September.
    12. Seung Hwan (Shawn) Lee, 2019. "An Exploration of Initial Purchase Price Dispersion and Service-Subscription Duration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, April.
    13. Yao, Jun & Oppewal, Harmen, 2016. "Unit Pricing Increases Price Sensitivity Even When Products are of Identical Size," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 109-121.
    14. Schmidt, Karolin & Kösling, Philipp & Bamberg, Sebastian & Blöbaum, Anke, 2022. "A Prospect Theory-based experimental vignette methodology for exploring rebound effects and rebound-damping interventions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    15. Jun Yao & Harmen Oppewal & Di Wang, 2020. "Cheaper and smaller or more expensive and larger: how consumers respond to unit price increase tactics that simultaneously change product price and package size," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 1075-1094, November.
    16. Sheehan, Daniel & Hardesty, David M. & Ziegler, Alexander H. & Chen, Haipeng (Allan), 2019. "Consumer reactions to price discounts across online shopping experiences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 129-138.
    17. Naseer Ahmad & Ali Raza Elahi, 2023. "The Effectiveness of Promotion through Brochure Advertising on Merchandise Sales: A Case Study of Multiple Retail Stores of Pakistan," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(2), pages 732-740.
    18. Zhu, Zhiwen & Behe, Bridget & Huddleston, Patricia & Sage, Lynnell, 2017. "How do pricing and the representation of price affect consumer evaluation of nursery products? A conjoint analysis," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 20(4), March.
    19. Santana, Shelle & Thomas, Manoj & Morwitz, Vicki G., 2020. "The Role of Numbers in the Customer Journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 138-154.
    20. Mao, Zhixin & Duan, Yongrui & Liu, Wenxia, 2023. "Consumers’ choice of private label considering reference price and moderating effect," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    21. Rashmi Adaval, 2013. "The utility of an information processing approach for behavioral price research," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 130-134, September.
    22. Weisstein, Fei L. & Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Monroe, Kent B., 2016. "Determinants of consumers' response to pay-what-you-want pricing strategy on the Internet," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4313-4320.
    23. Lillian L. Cheng & Kent B. Monroe, 2013. "Some reflections on an appraisal of behavioral price research (part 1)," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 155-159, September.

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