Discounts and consumer search behavior: The role of framing

Ralph-C Bayer () and Changxia Ke

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2013, vol. 39, issue C, 215-224

Abstract: This paper studies the pure framing effect of price discounts, focusing on its impact on consumer search behavior. In a simple two-shop search experiment, we compare search behavior in base treatments (where both shops post net prices without discounts) to discount treatments (where either the first shop or the second shop posts gross prices with separate discount offers, keeping the net prices constant). Although the objective search problems are identical across treatments, subjects search less in discount frames, irrespective where the discount is offered. There is evidence showing that subjects only base their decisions on salient characteristics of the situation rather than on the objective price information.

Keywords: Consumer search; Price framing; Price discounts; Competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Discounts and Consumer Search Behavior: The Role of Framing (2011)
Working Paper: Discounts and Consumer Search Behavior: The Role of Framing (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:39:y:2013:i:c:p:215-224

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2013.08.003

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