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Online Low-Price Guarantees---A Real Options Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin Marcus

    (Sawyer School of Management, Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts 02116)

  • Chris K. Anderson

    (School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853)

Abstract

A common practice among large retailers is the low-price guarantee, rebating consumers if they find an identical product cheaper elsewhere. This provides consumers with some level of comfort in their purchase decision. A similar low-price guarantee is provided by numerous service industries that allow reservation of capacity, yet do not penalize the consumer for failure to keep that reservation---examples include hotels and car rental. Given that a consumer is not required to keep the reservation, they may make another reservation, either at a competing firm or the same firm, if future prices decline. The increasing availability of pricing information on the Internet affords consumers the opportunity to be more strategic in their purchasing behavior. As consumers, we are able to quickly and easily check prices from numerous service or goods providers. The ease of price information potentially makes these guarantees very costly to the service or good provider. We analyze the implied costs associated with these guarantees by making analogies to financial options. Motivation for this research comes from a large car rental firm, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., that considered offering a low-price guarantee to all consumers that book a reservation though their website.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Marcus & Chris K. Anderson, 2006. "Online Low-Price Guarantees---A Real Options Analysis," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(6), pages 1041-1050, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:54:y:2006:i:6:p:1041-1050
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1060.0333
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Chen, Ming & Chen, Zhi-Long, 2019. "Uncertain about your travel plan? Lock it and decide later: Dynamic pricing with a fare-lock option," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-26.
    3. Nicole Koschate-Fischer & Katharina Wüllner, 2017. "New developments in behavioral pricing research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(6), pages 809-875, August.
    4. Trigeorgis, Lenos & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2018. "Real Options in Operations Research: A Review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 1-24.
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    6. Kallio, Markku & Kuula, Markku & Oinonen, Sami, 2012. "Real options valuation of forest plantation investments in Brazil," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 217(2), pages 428-438.
    7. Driouchi, Tarik & Bennett, David & Simpson, Gary, 2010. "A path-dependent contingent-claims approach to capacity investments," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(1), pages 319-323, February.

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