To read this content please select one of the options below:

Beyond reference price: understanding consumers’ encounters with unexpected prices

Joan Lindsey‐Mullikin (Assistant Professor, Babson College, Babson Park, Massachusetts, USA)

Journal of Product & Brand Management

ISSN: 1061-0421

Article publication date: 1 June 2003

4266

Abstract

The concept of reference price is a well‐established phenomenon in the marketing and consumer behavior literature. Given this, we investigate what happens when consumers, given a particular reference price, encounter unexpected prices. It is proposed that the theory of dissonance reduction provides a framework for studying situations in which consumers’ encountered prices are significantly different from their expectations. The three modes of dissonance reduction proposed: to change one’s attitude or cognition, to seek consonant information, and to trivialize some element of the dissonant relationship are demonstrated through theoretical interpretation and illustrated with in‐depth interviews.

Keywords

Citation

Lindsey‐Mullikin, J. (2003), "Beyond reference price: understanding consumers’ encounters with unexpected prices", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 140-153. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420310476906

Publisher

:

MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited

Related articles