Prices and pricing research in consumer marketing: Some recent developments

Abstract

In recent years, it has increasingly been recognized that developing an appropriate pricing strategy is both crucial and highly complex. The marketing literature reflects this point of view and contains an impressive number of contributions in the pricing area. Monroe and Della Bitta (Journal of Marketing Research 25 (Aug. 1979) 413–428) and Rao (Journal of Business 57 (1) (1984) S39–S50) review these publications up to 1984. This paper provides a picture of the major research streams in pricing since that date. The review is structured around the following topics: the multifaceted character of price; recent insights into the consumer's decision process with respect to price; price as an indicator of quality. This general treatment of the consumer's behavior towards prices serves as a basis for the evaluation of pricing strategies, such as price promotion strategies, multi- product pricing, and dynamic and new product pricing. The paper also summarizes some thoughts on the measurement of price effects, and indicates directions for future research.