The adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the extent to which selected contextual variables have an impact on the adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms, and determine the effect of the adoption of strategic pricing on company performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 154 industrial service firms operating in four different service sectors through a mail survey. Moreover, qualitative research through 20 in-depth interviews was carried out.
Findings
The study’s main findings indicate that market orientation along with a leading position in the market and market growth boost the development of strategic pricing. On the other hand, technological and market turbulence hinder this development, while the overall impact of turbulence is reduced in market-oriented firms. Finally, a positive impact of strategic pricing on company performance was found.
Research limitations/implications
The adoption of strategic pricing requires attention to a variety of factors, while this adoption can improve both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the company’s performance. The significance of these findings notwithstanding, the context of the study does limit generalization of its findings to other industrial service sectors and national contexts.
Originality/value
The current study represents one of the first attempts to empirically examine the aforementioned topics in an industrial service context.
Keywords
Citation
Indounas, K. (2015), "The adoption of strategic pricing by industrial service firms", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 521-535. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-02-2013-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited