Beyond reference price: understanding consumers’ encounters with unexpected prices

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.

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