How Power States Influence Consumers' Perceptions of Price Unfairness

Liyin Jin, Yanqun He and Ying Zhang

Journal of Consumer Research, 2014, vol. 40, issue 5, 818 - 833

Abstract: The present research explores how the power state interacts with comparative references in shaping consumer perceptions of price unfairness. Five experiments found that high-power consumers perceive stronger price unfairness when paying more than other consumers do, whereas low-power consumers perceive stronger unfairness when paying more than they themselves paid in previous transactions. The distinction occurs because consumers experience a threat to their self-importance from different types of disadvantaged comparisons depending on their power states. These results show that the state of power determines consumers' respective channels for maintaining their self-importance and alters the relevance of different comparative standards.

Date: 2014
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