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26-10-2021

How internal reference prices determine when a price’s location will influence consumer judgments

Authors: Katina Kulow, Keith S. Coulter, Michael J. Barone, Xingbo (Bo) Li

Published in: Marketing Letters | Issue 4/2022

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Abstract

Research has begun to examine if a price’s physical location—whether it is shown to the left versus right, or at the bottom versus top, of a marketing stimulus—can influence consumer judgment. Our research builds on initial evidence documenting the ability of a price’s low location to evoke “down = less” vertical metaphors that prompt perceptions of that price as being monetarily low. In particular, we examine two moderators of this location effect: whether target prices are (1) monetarily above or below consumers’ internal reference prices (IRPs) and (2) associated with a low- or high-cost category. Results reveal two interesting contingencies to price location effects not identified previously: these effects arise primarily for evaluations of lower-than-IRP prices associated with low-cost products, an effect that is mediated by processing fluency. Conversely, such effects do not arise for higher-than-IRP prices or in high-cost product categories.

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Appendix
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Metadata
Title
How internal reference prices determine when a price’s location will influence consumer judgments
Authors
Katina Kulow
Keith S. Coulter
Michael J. Barone
Xingbo (Bo) Li
Publication date
26-10-2021
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Marketing Letters / Issue 4/2022
Print ISSN: 0923-0645
Electronic ISSN: 1573-059X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09597-1