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Assimilation and Contrast in Price Evaluations

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  • Marcus Cunha Jr.
  • Jeffrey D. Shulman

Abstract

How are price judgments influenced by the distribution of observed prices for other items in the same category? Processing goals will moderate price-judgment processes. When the processing goal is discrimination, price perceptions will be influenced by variations in range and ranks of prices in a distribution and contrast effects will be observed. For example, lowering the price of the lowest-priced product in a set will increase perceived expensiveness of higher-priced products. When the processing goal is generalization, however, price perceptions will be influenced by variations in the mean of the price distribution, in which case assimilation is observed. For example, lowering the price of the lowest-priced product in a set will decrease perceived expensiveness of higher-priced products. This latter finding is in sharp contrast to findings in the current literature on the effect of price structure on price judgments.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcus Cunha Jr. & Jeffrey D. Shulman, 2011. "Assimilation and Contrast in Price Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(5), pages 822-835.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/656060
    DOI: 10.1086/656060
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    Cited by:

    1. Smart, Michael J., 2014. "A volatile relationship: The effect of changing gasoline prices on public support for mass transit," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 178-185.
    2. Lillian L. Cheng & Kent B. Monroe, 2013. "An appraisal of behavioral price research (part 1): price as a physical stimulus," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 3(3), pages 103-129, September.
    3. Zhi Huang & Marvin Washington, 2015. "Assimilation or Contrast? Status Inequality, Judgment of Product Quality, and Product Choices in Markets," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1752-1768, December.
    4. Jaikumar, Saravana & Sahay, Arvind, 2016. "Effect of Overlapping Price Ranges on Price Perception: Revisiting the Range Theory of Price Perception," IIMA Working Papers WP2016-02-02, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    5. Kevin Dayaratna & P. Kannan, 2012. "A mathematical reformulation of the reference price," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 839-849, September.
    6. Hunneman, Auke & Verhoef, Peter C. & Sloot, Laurens M., 2021. "The impact of hard discounter presence on store satisfaction and store loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    7. Nicole Koschate-Fischer & Katharina Wüllner, 2017. "New developments in behavioral pricing research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(6), pages 809-875, August.
    8. Seo, Yuri & Gao, Hongzhi, 2015. "Towards a value-based perspective of consumer multicultural orientation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 30-36.

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