Pricing scheme choice: how process affects outcome

0342784 - NHU-C 2011 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Shestakova, Natalia
Pricing scheme choice: how process affects outcome.
CERGE-EI Working Paper Series. Roč. 20, č. 2 (2010), s. 99-129. ISSN 1211-3298
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LC542
Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846
Keywords : choice process * heuristics * price discrimination
Subject RIV: AH - Economics
http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp411.pdf

Standard price discrimination theories are based on the assumption that consumers use their future demand estimates to evaluate net utility of each pricing scheme and choose the scheme with the highest value. However, some evidence suggests that consumers might not always behave this way. The experiment presented in this paper shows that indeed a substantial proportion of subjects choose not to evaluate the net utility of the offered pricing schemes. Instead, they select from pricing schemes based on a comparison of the schemes' parameters. Interestingly, this selection approach leads to the correct pricing-scheme choice when subjects are not well aware of their demand, and to the incorrect choice when they are. The results call for alternative theories of price discrimination and corresponding policy implications.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0185417