lea schneider matriculation no: 307041 price
TRANSCRIPT
Lea Schneider
Matriculation no: 307041
Price differentiation – An empirical analysis
of the potential of dynamic pricing strategies
Lea Schneider Königsberger Str. 1
Matriculation no: 307041 79346 Endingen a. K.
[email protected] Abgabe: 18.04.2016
Price differentiation –
An empirical analysis of the potential of
dynamic pricing strategies
Bachelor dissertation
Presented to gain admission to
Bachelor of Science degree at Pforzheim University
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Nadine Walter
Second Marker: Prof. Dr. Thomas Cleff
Declaration
I hereby declare that this Bachelor dissertation is all my own work. I have only used the
sources or resources I have explicitly referenced. I have attributed all direct and indirect
quotations.
Berlin, 18.04.2016
Table of Contents
List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 1
List of tables and figures ................................................................................................ 1
List of appendices ............................................................................................................ 1
Introduction to the topic ................................................................................................. 2
1.1 Motivation ......................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Objectives and goals ......................................................................................... 2
1.3 Structure ............................................................................................................ 3
2 Definition of price differentiation .......................................................................... 4
2.1 The fundamentals for the definition .................................................................. 4
2.2 Legal definition of price differentiation ............................................................ 6
2.3 Economic definitions ........................................................................................ 7
2.3.1 Economic definition without the consideration for cost differences ............ 7
2.3.2 Economic definition with the consideration of cost differences ................... 8
2.4 A marketing definition ...................................................................................... 9
3 Types of price differentiation............................................................................... 10
4 Requirements for price differentiation ............................................................... 13
5 Effects of price differentiation ............................................................................. 15
6 The concepts behind willingness to pay .............................................................. 15
6.1 The concept of reference prices ...................................................................... 15
6.1.1 Introduction to reference prices .................................................................. 15
6.1.2 Internal reference price ............................................................................... 16
6.1.3 The external and advertised reference price ............................................... 17
6.1.4 Reference prices in different channels ........................................................ 17
6.2 The concept of price fairness .......................................................................... 18
6.2.1 The concepts of equity theory and dual entitlement ................................... 18
6.2.2 Procedural and Distributive Fairness .......................................................... 19
7 The role of the internet ......................................................................................... 20
7.1 Price and cost transparency ............................................................................. 20
7.2 Collection of consumer information ............................................................... 22
8 Dynamic pricing .................................................................................................... 23
8.1 The concept of dynamic pricing ..................................................................... 23
8.2 Dynamic posted prices .................................................................................... 25
8.2.1 Dynamic price updating .............................................................................. 25
8.2.2 Dynamic E-coupons .................................................................................... 26
8.3 Discovery price ............................................................................................... 27
8.3.1 Auctions ...................................................................................................... 27
8.3.2 Reverse Auctions ........................................................................................ 28
8.3.3 Exchanges ................................................................................................... 29
8.4 Bundling .......................................................................................................... 29
9 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................. 30
10 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 37
11 Findings .................................................................................................................. 40
12 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 70
13 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 71
14 Recommendations for actions .............................................................................. 73
Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 82
Publication bibliography ............................................................................................ 113
1
List of abbreviations
ARP – advertised reference price
B2B – business to business
B2C – business to consumer
ERP – external reference price
IRP – internal reference price
NYOP – Name-Your-Own-Price
USP – unique selling proposition
WOM – word-of-mouth
List of tables and figures
Table 1: Definitions for price discrimination .......................................................... 5
Figure 1: Classifications of dynamic pricing by Kannan and Kopalle ................. 25
List of appendices
Appendix 1: Thesis Questionnaire......................................................................... 82
Appendix 2: Thesis Fragebogen ............................................................................ 84
Appendix 3: Interview Daniel Korany .................................................................. 86
Appendix 4: Interview Norbert Weisshaar ............................................................ 89
Appendix 5: Interview Jochen Gönsch .................................................................. 92
Appendix 6: Interview Werner Tauss .................................................................... 97
Appendix 7: Interview Tim Brzoska ................................................................... 100
Appendix 8: Interview Irene van der Wal ........................................................... 103
Appendix 9: Interview José Francisco Guzmán Tanikawa ................................. 105
Appendix 10: Interview Wolfgang Sessler .......................................................... 110
2
Introduction to the topic
1.1 Motivation
Pricing is the biggest profit lever. A one percent increase in price leads to more
than eleven percent increase in profit. This also holds true the other way around: a
one percent decrease will cause high profit losses (Marn & Rosiello, 1992, p. 84).
Even though companies should invest in better pricing schemes, pricing from a
marketing viewpoint is still a vastly underestimated business topic. Most of
today’s companies have not yet mastered the importance and complexity of the
price effect and subsequently miss out on important profits. Other companies
already understand the interaction of consumer and product. They are able to
adapt and apply their knowledge to improve their strategies.
The early 21st century is shaped by technological advances which have greatly
influenced the way to conduct business. Clearly, both companies and consumers
have more possibilities to connect with marketplaces and gather knowledge on
products and services. Bringing the topics of pricing and internet together holds a
lot of potential. It is not a new idea to price differentiate. Marketers have long
understood that charging different prices to different customers helps to increase
profits. Although this pricing technique has existed for such a long time, changes
in the way consumers behave in the purchase situation and the possibilities arising
with technological advances bring to question what possibilities for price
differentiation lie ahead.
With this background in mind, the motivation of this thesis is to take a look into
today’s price discrimination and discover new opportunities to implement this
kind of pricing strategy by using the advantages of better and faster technology.
1.2 Objectives and goals
The leading question for this thesis is based on how companies should implement
price differentiation. The focus on dynamic pricing techniques tries to combine
the traditional logic of price differentiation with current technological advances.
The goal is to offer a thorough analysis on how and why price differentiation
works and how dynamic pricing strategies can be included in companies. The
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focus is to give tangible recommendations to facilitate the implementation of
related strategies.
Several questions lead toward the objective:
How does price differentiation work?
What are the boundaries of price differentiation, considering the
consumers notion?
How do companies need to use the internet to take advantage of pricing
opportunities and avoid drawbacks?
How important is dynamic pricing?
Is dynamic pricing applicable to any company, product or service?
By answering these questions throughout the theoretical analysis and the expert
interviews, this thesis will lead over to practical recommendations. Those can be
accomplished with the specific results from the interviews and knowledge from
other marketing fields, which should be considered in setting up a price setting
process.
Finally, paving the way for the use of dynamic pricing as a regular price
differentiation scheme is one of the ideal outcomes of this thesis.
1.3 Structure
This thesis consists of a theoretical research part and an empirical study with
expert interviews.
The theory aims at giving an understanding about the idea of price differentiation
as one very commonly used pricing technique. It will give a clear picture of the
aspects of price differentiation and the requirements on how it can be
implemented. A single chapter on the economic effects of price differentiation
will give insights into the profitability of the respective types of differentiation.
Since the matching price of a product refers to the consumer alone, further
chapters of this thesis will shed light on psychological aspects of reference prices
and the underlying concept of fairness. Understanding these concepts is one key
in finding the right pricing strategy for any company. Continuing on, the next part
of the thesis will discuss dynamic pricing strategies in detail. The emphasis on this
4
part is to present the existing types of dynamic pricing strategies and their
applications.
Following the theoretical frame, several hypotheses will lead over to the empirical
part of this bachelor thesis. One aim of the hypotheses is to secure the findings
from research. More importantly, the hypotheses are supposed to create a
transition into the practical application of these strategies and their business value.
Any real-life examples add transparency to the applicability of dynamic pricing
and help to endorse the recommendations, which will complete this thesis. These
recommendations give direct aid to marketers at different stages of the strategic
pricing process.
2 Definition of price differentiation
2.1 The fundamentals for the definition
Since the first mentioning of modern price discrimination by Pigou (1920), there
have been new approaches and empirical researches in various directions,
especially concerning the exact definition of price discrimination. Many authors
agree to the aspects “the more one thinks about price discrimination, the harder it
is to define” (Phlips, 1983, p. 5) and “it is difficult to offer an all-encompassing
definition” (Tirole, 1988, p. 134).
Primarily, taking a closer look at the general meaning of the term discrimination
provides a first indication to the possible characterization of price discrimination.
One general approach for a definition points out “direct discrimination shall be
taken to occur when a person is treated less favourably than another person would
be” (Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, 2006).
Taking into account this definition in combination with pricing, it can be derived
that price discrimination suggests unfavourable behaviour in pricing strategies. On
this basis, Table 1 shows the different existing definitions of price discrimination
in thematic and chronological order, which will be analysed and compared in
order to conclude the fundamentals of this thesis.
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Table 1: Definitions for price discrimination
Author Definition Main
Characteristics
Robinson Patman
Act
(1936)
“It shall be unlawful […] to
discriminate in price between
different purchasers of
commodities of like grade and
quality […].
[…] only due allowance for
differences in the cost of
manufacture, sale, or delivery
resulting from the differing
methods or quantities […].”
Legal definition,
different focus as
the economic
definitions
Machlup
(1955, p. 397)
“Price discrimination is […] the
practice of a firm selling a
homogeneous commodity at the
same time to different purchasers
at different prices.”
No cost
consideration;
homogeneous
products with
slight differences
Robinson
(1969, p. 179)
“the act of selling the same article
produced under a single control,
at different prices to different
buyers”
No cost
consideration,
identical products
Bloomsbury
Business &
Management
Dictionary
(2007, p. 5859)
“The practice of selling the same
product to different buyers at
different prices.”
No cost
consideration,
identical products
Landsburg
(2010, p. 334)
“Charging different prices for
identical items.”
No cost
consideration,
identical products
6
Nicholson/Snyder
(2010, p. 355)
“Selling identical units of output
at different prices.”
No cost
consideration,
identical products
Masterson/Pickton
(2010, p. 375)
“Price discriminators charge
different prices for the same
products to different market
segments.”
No cost
consideration,
focus on market
segments
Elegido
(2011, p. 633)
“Price discrimination is the
practice of charging different
customers different prices for the
same product.”
No cost
consideration,
identical products
Stigler
(1987, p. 210)
“by defining discrimination as the
sale of two or more similar goods
at prices that are in different ratios
to marginal cost”
Marginal cost
differences matter
Shepherd/Shepherd
(2004, p. 205)
“If the ratios of price to cost are
different among buyer, then it is
price discrimination.”
Cost differences
matter
Miller
(2012, p. 544)
“Selling a given product at more
than one price, with the price
difference being unrelated to
differences in marginal cost.”
Marginal cost
differences matter
McConnell et al.
(2012, p. 207)
“The practice of selling a specific
product at more than one price
when the price differences are not
justified by cost differences.”
Cost differences
matter
Source: Own selected depiction of cited authors
2.2 Legal definition of price differentiation
The legal definition of the Robinson-Patman-Act is exclusively dealing with price
differences. It takes no interest in the relation to cost differences, stressing its
main concern: stating that price discrimination reduces competition. Furthermore,
the legal definition focuses on companies in direct competition with each other
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and does often not regard geographical discrimination. When products are of alike
grade or quality and a definite disturbance of competition with the outcome of a
monopoly can be determined, price discrimination takes place. Under certain
circumstances the law allows price discrimination to prevail, for instance when
price differences are necessary to meet competition. To conclude, the legal
definition of price discriminatory practices may strongly vary from the economic
standpoint (Schneidau & Knutson, 1969, p. 1144).
2.3 Economic definitions
2.3.1 Economic definition without the consideration for cost differences
The ultimate basic definition for price discrimination goes back to various authors
with slightly altered phrasing but the same components: Elegido (2011, p. 633),
Landsburg (2010, p. 334), Nicholson and Snyder (2010, p. 355) as well as the
dictionary definition (Bloomsbury Business Library,, 2007, p. 5859). All these
authors state price discrimination to be the practice of selling the same good to
different customers at different prices. Machlup (1955, p. 397), using the same
basic definition, implies that price discrimination does not only work with
identical commodities but rather with homogeneous ones, which differ slightly
from each other. In fact, he determines homogeneous commodities being in fact
essential for certain types of price discrimination (Machlup, 1955, p. 397). By
adding this specificity to his definition, the former restriction of the term “same”
is being evaded. Machlup goes into more detail by determining the meaning and
implications of each term in his definition, which most other researchers have
neglected to do. Some might be neglecting detail due to a different focus in their
work, where such a detailed definition is not a necessity. Meanwhile, Philips
(1983, pp. 5–7) and Tirole (1988, p. 3) confirm the former distinction of Machlup
by determining that discrimination can take place with differentiated products as a
way to segment customers according to their preference for different attributes of
the same basic commodity.
Although this definitional attempt at first glance seems logical and to provide the
necessary details to understand price discrimination, several economists have
uttered criticism about this definition. They argue that this definition leads to
8
mischaracterizations of price discriminatory techniques, where some pricing
techniques might be mistaken as discriminatory, although differences in prices
could actually be the result of cost differences. Milgrom (1987, p. 365) argues,
that the traditional definition is indeed too broad in terms of categorizing price
discrimination.
2.3.2 Economic definition with the consideration of cost differences
In order to avoid those misinterpretations, the theoretical scope has been increased
by adding the factor of cost differences. Consequently, economists define price
discrimination to exist when differences in price cannot be explained by
differences in costs – more specifically differences in marginal costs (Stigler,
1987, p. 210; Shepherd & Shepherd, 2004, p. 205; Miller, 2012, p. 544;
McConnell et al., 2012, p. 207). These economists also argue that once a price
difference cannot be explained by existing cost-differences, the price is
discriminatory. Philips (1983, p. 6) claims that price discrimination exists as long
as price-cost margins are unequal for differentiated products. In this case absolute
differences between price and marginal costs are studied. On the other hand,
Stigler (1987, p. 4) proposes an analysis based on price-cost mark-ups. This way,
relative cost differences in the ratios between prices and costs for several products
are considered. Clerides (2004, p. 403) suggests the choice of interpretation as
critical, since one definition might indicate price discrimination while the other
does not. Furthermore, the margin definition is more likely to indicate price
discrimination, so both methods hold potential for error.
Even though this classification minimizes the problems of the first definition, it
still does not convey sufficient information on the unspecified details like the
actual similarity of the commodities. Clerides states that “in fact there is no single,
widely accepted definition of price discrimination” (Clerides, 2004, p. 402). Still,
this second classification is most accurate for the economical perspective and
offers marketers a specific framework.
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2.4 A marketing definition
Of the researched definitions, the one most focused on the marketing perspective
is set up by Masterson and Pickton (2010, p. 375). They define price
discrimination as a strategy to “charge different prices for the same product to
different market segments” (Masterson & Pickton, 2010, p. 375). Whereas
economists and law representatives simply determine different people as
recipients of the pricing technique, this definition already indicates how to
determine which kind of consumer should be charged differently. Considering
this, it is more practically oriented. But this definition has its shortcomings. As
discussed before, focusing on identical products narrows the scope of
consideration and ought to be evaded. Instead, using the distinction of
“homogeneous but not necessarily identical commodity”, allows the definition to
grasp a wider array of possible price discriminatory practices. Looking at market
segments alone is another restriction. Thoroughly discussed in the following
chapter, market segments represent only one specific kind or price discrimination
and could therefore falsely narrow the scope. Instead, “based on segmentation
criteria” can be interpreted to hold true for all kinds of price discrimination,
depending on whether the interpretation is more strict or loose. Considering this,
an alternative less confining definition for marketers might be: “Price
discrimination is the practice of charging different prices for a homogeneous, but
not necessarily identical commodity to different customers based on different
segmentation criteria.” For this paper, this is the most useful kind of definition, as
the marketing aspects of price differentiation shall be discussed, with the
knowledge that the economic aspects of this particular pricing technique have to
be thoroughly considered before implementation.
For this paper, the terms price discrimination and price differentiation will be used
interchangeably and will presume the same meaning. This assumption has been
found to not hold true for all other research on the topic, as some authors
differentiate strongly between the different terms, as illustrated by Elegido (2011,
p. 633). In case of this thesis, both terms will be used with the above expressed
definition.
10
Knowing the different definitions of price discrimination helps marketers
understand how price discrimination works, especially when determining
differential pricing and its monetary results. In case of this thesis, keeping in mind
the differences of the definitions helps to better understand their concept and some
implications for marketers. The foremost interest is to gather qualitative
information on the implementation of price discrimination techniques. In this
paper the exact mathematical implications which arise with economic theories can
therefore be ignored.
3 Types of price differentiation
Various categorization methods for price differentiation have been shown in
literature. Arthur Cecil Pigou (1920) has been the first to introduce the
terminology of three degrees of price discrimination, which is a common basic
reference in other literature (Holmes, 1989; Varian, 1992; Dastidar, 2006;
McAfee, 2008).
First-degree price discrimination focuses on catching the individual willingness to
pay of each consumer and represents the perfect price discrimination with
individual prices based on the consumer’s identity. Unlike the other two degrees
of differentiation, real-world applications have been mainly theoretical and
literature on the topic remained scarce (Encaoua & Hollander, 2007, p. 1). Still,
some traditional uses have been discussed by Machlup (1955, pp. 401–403). One
of the functioning applications is bargaining for cheaper prices, which often takes
place in unorganized and imperfect markets and leaves the consumer at the
advantage to use the non-transparency in his favour. Another, rather insignificant
personal discrimination is to charge hand-picked customers a higher price with the
knowledge that they have no interest or incentive to switch. The “size-up-his-
income” discrimination generally makes sense for services provided by lawyers or
doctors. This includes charging higher prices to upper-class customers and
showing generosity towards poorer customers, therefore focusing on providing
service to everyone and using the differences in price-sensitivity to increase
profits (Machlup, 1955, pp. 401–403).
11
In the traditional theory of Pigou (1920), second-degree price discrimination was
an approximation of first-degree price discrimination and rarely functional in
reality (Stole, 2007, p. 2227). Modern research, among others McAfee (2008,
p. 473) and Tirole (1988, p. 135) redefined this degree to include self-selection of
consumers. With this degree of price discrimination, distinct consumer groups
cannot be predicted. Instead, buyers are offered several options on price and
quantity and self-select according to their willingness to pay. By offering different
versions or quantities of a product, customers chose the option they find most
attractive (McAfee, 2008, p. 473). With regards to McAfee (2008, pp. 473–476),
second-degree price discrimination with volume discounts is regularly used, but
specifically vulnerable towards arbitrage as long as the potential reselling prices
are higher than the unit price after discounts. The use of coupons is based on the
individual’s value of time and price sensitivity, which indicates that a good
coupon addresses consumers with a low value of time and high price sensitivity.
Bundling goods together offers a way of indirect price discrimination, which
relies, just like any other form of indirect discrimination, on the price sensitivity
of the consumer and the overall attractiveness of the offer. Performance-based
discrimination is widely used in the electronics industry by offering two different
versions of a product and letting the consumer decide on their preferred price-
performance ratio (McAfee, 2008, pp. 473–476).
Much research and focus has been dedicated to third-degree price discrimination
as the most common type out of the three degrees of price differentiation (Varian,
1992, p. 248). Third-degree price discrimination occurs when companies use
additional information on consumers to charge them different prices, as long as
those prices remain the same for all amounts of units purchased (Dastidar, 2006,
p. 231). Machlup (1955, pp. 403f.) shows the different applications by
distinguishing consumers considering their geographical location, age, sex,
membership and life stage. Further classifications include the loyalty status of the
consumer and the use and purpose of the product. In all cases, third-degree
discrimination relies on the existence of variations in customer groups, especially
to “exploit differences in the ‘squeezability’ of the separate groups” (Machlup,
1955, p. 403).
12
In contrast to the traditional classification by Pigou, Machlup (1955, p. 400) used
a distinction between personal, group and product discrimination to classify the
different ways of price differentiation, with his literature based on former findings
by Cassady (1946; cited by Machlup, 1955, p. 400). With regards to the degrees
of price discrimination, personal discrimination represents the first-degree, group
discrimination involves similar methods to what Pigou defined as the third degree
and product discrimination comprehends the differences that arise with different
product versions respectively what is defined as the second degree of price
discrimination (Machlup, 1955, p. 400). The advantage of this classification is the
obvious relationship the category names share with the characteristics of this
group of price differentiation. Simultaneously, this classification has only been
rarely used and has mostly been mentioned as a comparison to Pigou.
Stole (2007, p. 2227) and McAfee (2008, pp. 468f.) suggest yet another
categorization for the different types of price discrimination. According to their
research, first and third-degree discrimination can be categorized as direct price
discrimination, because companies can directly group customers according to
their different characteristics and charge them differently. Following this logic
path, second-degree price differentiation, where the consumer self-selects his ideal
price level, is called indirect price discrimination. In this case, companies
indirectly offer the discriminatory prices to consumers without influencing which
consumers are taking advantage of the price discrimination (Stole, 2007, p. 2227;
McAfee, 2008, pp. 468f.).
Evidently, all three classifications show a thorough understanding of the topic and
represent the different emphasis and preferences of the respective authors.
Understanding these classifications allows to get an understanding about the
different approaches on the subject and the subjectivity of the research. In this
thesis, understanding these different classifications is another important step
towards the immersion of the issue.
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4 Requirements for price differentiation
Carroll and Coates (1999, pp. 470f.) but also Varian (1989, p. 599) and Landsburg
(2010, p. 335) agree on three general conditions for a successful implementation
of price differentiation.
First of all, Carroll and Coates assume that companies need to have some market
power to be able to influence the prices paid by the consumer. Market power1 can
stem from advantages in quality, service and other factors to distinguish a
company on the market. Hence, price discrimination can happen in pure
monopolies, monopolistic competition and oligopolies. Since the demand curve in
case of market power has a downward slope, the surplus for consumers’ increases.
Price discrimination offers a way to capture some of that surplus for the company
(Carroll & Coates, 1999, pp. 470f.).
Secondly, the company has to hold control over the sale of the product in order to
limit the options of arbitrage in the market. In a situation of arbitrage, a consumer
who is offered a lower price for a good will purchase a large quantity of that good
and then resell this good to consumers who do not have access to the lower price
of the offer. Perfect arbitrage describes a situation in which the company is forced
to sell all the output at the lowest price when otherwise consumers would resell to
other consumers. Arbitrage causes the company to charge one single price
(McAfee, 2008, pp. 467f.). Only when consumers are unable to move between
different segments, price discrimination is successful (Masterson & Pickton, 2010,
p. 375).
There are several conditions under which arbitrage is difficult or even impossible.
Services often represent an easy way of price differentiation, as they are
perishable and are normally impossible to resell. Moreover, high transportation
costs for goods make arbitrage unfavourable, since the additional costs would
diminish the price difference between the lowest selling price of one consumer
and the higher price offered in resale to another consumer. Furthermore, when
goods are customized and individually produced, the option of resale becomes
1 Market power is defined as “the degree to which a firm exercises influence over the price and
output of a market” (Bannock et al., 1992, p. 274).
14
more difficult. Legal restrictions on resale and thin markets2 put a direct stop on
the options of arbitrage and work in favour for companies. Likewise, special
contracts or warranties that cannot be forwarded plus information and
transparency problems all stop arbitrage from occurring (McAfee, 2008, pp.
467f.).
To avoid conflict with arbitrage, companies should implement certain controls
over the consumers by implementing licensing agreements, reselling prohibitions
or quantity limitations (Carroll & Coates, 1999, p. 471).
Although preventing the risk or arbitrage in offline channels is generally not a big
problem, the increasing possibilities of the internet with resale and price
comparison platforms have a certain impact on the importance of the issue and the
efforts needed to counteract arbitrage (Varian, 1992, p. 241).
The third condition for price discrimination is for consumers to have different
price elasticities in demand3 for a commodity. The degrees of price discrimination
which are applicable to the consumer depend on the extent of information on the
differences of consumers’ willingness to pay. Knowing each individual
willingness to pay will allow a perfect first-degree discrimination. Having enough
information to distinguish two groups of people, one with a high willingness to
pay and the other with a substantially lower willingness to pay, indicates it is ideal
to use second- degree price discrimination and letting each consumer self-select
their choice. Finally, if the company can correlate the differences in elasticities to
certain group characteristics, third-degree price discrimination becomes a
possibility (Carroll & Coates, 1999, p. 471).
Although researchers agree on these requirements for price differentiation, the
effort associated with the implementation of the pricing strategy and the
implications for marketing will be studied in more detail in the empirical analysis
of this thesis.
2 A thin market is a market with few buyers and sellers, where a product is customized or where
there is low demand for the product (McAfee, 2008, p. 468). 3 Price elasticity of demand is “a measure of how much the quantity demanded of a good responds
to a change in the price of the good” (Mankiw, 2008, p. 90).
15
5 Effects of price differentiation
Generally speaking, Carroll and Coates (1999, pp. 471f.) purport how price
discrimination affects distribution and efficiency, although the specific economic
effects depend on the exact types of discrimination and are linked to the available
information. Even so, price discrimination is still a profitable practice to engage
in. The profits result from the consumer surplus collected by having a certain
market power and control over prices. If engaging in first-degree price
discrimination, due to the idea of perfect information on individual customers, the
whole consumer surplus can be collected. As long as prices are equal to or higher
than marginal costs, profits can be generated. For third-degree price
discrimination, not all of the consumer surplus can be extracted, since the
individual willingness to pay is not known and consumers can only be charged in
segments. Economic literature calculates the exact efficiency outcome of third-
degree price differentiation from the slope of the demand and cost curves (Carroll
& Coates, 1999, pp. 471f.).
Economic literature by Schmalensee (1981) and Varian (1985) shows by means of
price-sensitive customers, that price discrimination leads to an increase in welfare
compared to uniform pricing, provided that the output sold increases in
comparison to the uniform price situation (Elegido, 2011, p. 638).
These effects help a company to understand the potential success of a strategy, but
it is at least as important to understand what drives the success or failure of a
strategy. The following part of this thesis will analyse the psychological ideas
behind reference prices and fairness perception.
6 The concepts behind willingness to pay
6.1 The concept of reference prices
6.1.1 Introduction to reference prices
The reference price is defined as “[…] an internal standard against which
observed prices are compared” (Kalyanaram & Winer, 1995, p. 161).
16
It is generally accepted that reference prices are used to judge the purchase price
of a product (Monroe, 1973, p. 76). In traditional microeconomics, a consumer
makes his decision based on actual prices and income. With the concept of
reference prices, decisions are based not only on actual, but also on perceived
prices (Kalyanaram & Winer, 1995, p. 162).
6.1.2 Internal reference price
The internal reference price is based on the individual memory of the consumer
on the perception of prices. For the internal reference price, Briesch et al. (1997,
pp. 202f.) determine three main conceptualizations of how the IRP works. A
majority of researchers (Lattin & Bucklin, 1989, p. 300; Mayhew & Winer, 1992,
p. 63; Kalyanaram & Little, 1994, p. 415) model reference price with the
assumption of consumers remembering past prices, which then influence the
reference price. In this scenario, recent experiences have more importance and
weight than distant ones. Furthermore, the share of past promotions have a direct
effect on the IRP, as continuous promotions lower the reference price for the
consumer to an overall lower level. (Janiszewski & Lichtenstein, 1999, pp. 353–
355).
Advocates of the second concept (Winer, 1986, p. 251; Kalwani et al., 1990,
p. 251) do only take past prices into account, but also consider contextual factors
such as general price trends or the selling frequency of the brand.
Another movement (Hardie et al., 1993, pp. 379f.; Rajendran & Tellis, 1994,
p. 30) argues that consumers are not able to memorize past prices and therefore
use current prices of certain brands at the time of the purchase. On the other hand,
the study of Briesch et al. (1997, p. 213) indicates, that many consumers do in fact
remember past prices quite accurately. Moreover, research proposes that even if
consumers are not able to recall the exact prices, they still have a vague idea
whether the price they are facing is justified (Monroe & Lee, 1999, p. 208).
There is not only single true approach on how to determine internal reference
prices. Different research and different survey outcomes have indicated various
aspects and led to different approaches. Importantly to understand is that
17
consumers use the internal reference price to judge prices of products and services
(Wolk & Spann, p. 15).
6.1.3 The external and advertised reference price
The external reference price is based on observations of stimuli in a purchase
situation, such as prices for products in the same category (Mayhew & Winer,
1992, p. 62). External reference prices can be provided through catalogues, price
lists and other price cues for similar products. The advertised reference price is a
good way for companies to influence the perception of the consumer. In this case,
the advertised reference price is either compared to a former price, the suggested
retail price or to competitors (Biswas & Blair, 1991, pp. 1f.).
The effectiveness to influence a consumer’s internal reference price with
advertisement strongly depends on contextual factors, such as the placement and
size of the price advertisement, the feeling towards the brand and the price
reputation of the company (Biswas & Blair, 1991, p. 2).
The advertised reference price has proven to be especially effective in offline
channels. Indeed, for posted prices, the ARP has shown to decrease external
search costs and increase the buying intentions. Furthermore, the authors argue
that the ARP in a situation of an auction might even decrease purchase intention
because online channels have increased the amount of price information available.
Consequently, the IRP and ERP are much more influential factors (Wolk &
Spann, p. 16). The theory of reference prices does in fact have value when
estimating consumer demand. It is an important tool in order to set price
discriminatory techniques since the segmentation for differentiated pricing is
solely based on the willingness to pay of the consumer (Monroe & Lee, 1999,
p. 208).
6.1.4 Reference prices in different channels
The rise of the internet has created three types of retailers: pure offline retailers,
pure online retailers and those using both channels. The reference price for
different channels vary, seeing as many consumers expect lower prices on the
internet (Zettelmeyer, 2000, p. 304). This is the result of the belief, that overhead
18
costs4 of online retailers are lower and these should lead to accordingly lower
prices for the end-consumer (Hardesty & Suter, 2005). This is consistent with
studies showing that pure Internet e-tailers indeed offer lower prices than offline
retailers or multichannel retailers, who use both traditional and online retailing
(Brynjolfsson & Smith, 2000, pp. 564f.; Tang & Xing, 2001, p. 329).
This chapter helps to understand how reference prices are developed. The
following chapter about the concept of price fairness will give an indication about
what happens when a discrepancy between the expected price and the real price
exists.
6.2 The concept of price fairness
6.2.1 The concepts of equity theory and dual entitlement
Price fairness can be defined as “a consumer’s assessment and associated
emotions of whether the difference between a seller’s price and the price of a
comparative other party is reasonable, acceptable, or justifiable” (Xia et al., 2004,
p. 3). According to equity theory (Adams, 1965, p. 280), people are comparing
their contributions with the outcome of an exchange. They are not concerned with
the absolute level of prices, but the fairness of an outcome in comparison to the
outcome for other people. If a purchase situation is unfair, dissatisfaction ensues
and the consumer will try to restore equity by changing or ending the exchange
(Cox, 2001, p. 266).
Dual entitlement builds on equity theory and suggests that fairness perceptions
rely on the belief of consumers that they are entitled to a reference price and
companies to a reference profit respectively (Kahneman et al., 1986, p. 729).
Notably, the entitlement of the seller has precedence over the buyer in case of a
conflict. Accordingly, buyers understand, that higher costs can be passed on by
increased prices (Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal, 2003, p. 454). According to Bolton
et al. (2003, p. 474), giving cost information may help to weaken the effects of
price increases. Still, consumers do not always take into account all cost factors or
4 Overhead costs, also called indirect costs are part of different cost objectives but cannot be tied to
any single one directly, for example administrative costs (Synder & Davenport, 1997, p. 159).
19
give less weight to certain factors by underestimating their cost effect (Bolton et
al., 2003, p. 474).
When these findings are combined with the research from reference prices, it hints
at the fact that fairness also differs between channels and that companies have to
take specific care of each of their channels.
6.2.2 Procedural and Distributive Fairness
Procedural fairness is based on the company’s price setting process and
distributive fairness is focused the outcome of this process, the actual price the
consumer has to pay (Maxwell, 2008, pp. 74f.).
Campbell (1999, p. 188) proposes that a company’s’ motive for a price strategy as
well as their prior reputation does have influence on the perception of price
fairness. Research states that consumers sometimes predict companies behaviour
based on their past motives. A good reputation will increase the likelihood of a
positive association and positive motives, which then also has an effect on how
the consumer evaluates a firms pricing strategy (Campbell, 1999, p. 188). By
building goodwill, a company earns lenience in their actions. A lack of positive
reputation and goodwill leads to mistrust (Shapiro, 1983, pp. 659f.). If prices are
perceived as unfair by the consumer, possible reactions have been found in
customer dissatisfaction, discarded purchase intentions as well as negative word-
of-mouth (Huppertz et al., 1978; Campbell, 1999). When facing large inequalities
and unfairness, buyers might even be tempted to cope with the situation by
seeking monetary compensation, although that depends on the efforts involved
and the likelihood of success (Xia et al., 2004, p. 7).
One way to circumvent the negative reactions is using yield management, which
uses seemingly similar products that differ by additional benefits or restrictions.
Consequently, product differentiation helps avoid unfairness perceptions. In the
case of price discrimination, different researchers have studied various situations
(Xia et al., 2004, p. 8).
Generally, when comparing uniform and differential pricing, customers perceive
differential pricing as unfair and uniform prices as fair. Research by Huang et al.
20
(2005, pp. 355–360) suggests that random price discrimination is perceived as
unfair by the majority of the respondents. Furthermore, geographic discrimination
as well as charging differently between existing and new customers was perceived
as highly unfair. Generally, paying the same price in online channels as in offline
channels is considered unfair, since customers – as established before – assume
costs to be lower in online channel and expect a matching lower price. On the
other hand, research suggest that pricing models like auctions, group-buying
discounts and the Priceline model5 are accepted by the consumer (Huang et al.,
2005, pp. 355–360).
This chapter was supposed to help understand what influences fairness. Knowing
the psychological aspects beneath customer behavior is essential when thinking
about pricing strategies. Accordingly, this part of the thesis is very important in
order to target customers with particular pricing strategies and the corresponding
marketing strategies.
7 The role of the internet
7.1 Price and cost transparency
Advances in technology such as increased data storage and the ability to share
information across user networks is destined to have an effect on consumer
behaviour. Garbarino and Lee agree that “information flows more freely on the
internet than traditional environments” (Garbarino & Lee, 2003, p. 497). The
result of the growth in technology and its importance are electronic marketplaces6,
which help to bring together buyers and sellers and increase the efficiency of
information distribution (Bakos, 1997, p. 1678).
Search costs7 are lower in online channels (Granados et al., 2006, p. 149) for both
price and non-price attributes (Degeratu et al., 2000, p. 56). One of the general
5 A reverse auction platform, where consumers can make a single bid. The focus of this model is
on price-sensitive customers (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 74) . 6 An electronic marketplace is defined as an “interorganizational information system that allows
the participating buyers and sellers in some market to exchange information about prices and
product offerings” (Bakos, 1997, p. 1676). 7 The common economic definition of search costs is “the costs incurred by the buyer to find an
appropriate seller and purchase the product, which includes opportunity costs of the time spend
searching as well as additional expenditures” (Bakos, 1997, p. 1677).
21
rules of search theory states that decreasing search costs will lead to an increase of
time spend looking for information (Bakos, 1991, p. 297). Consequently, the
options to search the internet for information in the search phase of the purchasing
process are increasingly used by buyers (Henry, 2005, p. 345). Henry argues that
the already existing information overload cannot be processed and that consumers
actually use less information with increasing information complexity (Henry,
2005, pp. 349f.). This is a clear indicator that information overload should be
avoided.
One driver of low search costs are shopbots8, which typically list product
information in comparable tables, allowing the consumer to choose the most
attractive price offerings and being directly redirected to the retailers’ websites
(Smith, 2002, p. 446). By using one of many price comparison websites,
consumers can easily navigate through a vast amount of products and their
respective prices (Sinha, 2000, p. 44). Every time a cheaper price results from
these comparisons, consumers change their perception of cost and price for a
product, which means that the new external reference price is influencing the
willingness to pay. By gaining new information, buyers are able to actively drive
prices, simply by knowing the costs of a commodity and hence being able to
judge the fairness of a price (Sinha, 2000, p. 44).
In case of high search costs, the benefits of the additional information do not
cover the costs, which will lead to less or even no search during the purchasing
process. In turn, this allows companies to set higher prices because those might be
more easily accepted (Henry, 2005, pp. 349f.).
Logically, the quantity of information available has influence on how useful the
information is. Furthermore, it is also important how the information online is
displayed and how the layout of the information can help or keep a customer from
gaining knowledge (Granados et al., 2010). Even if there is a large amount of
information available online: If this information is not easy to analyse, then
transparency is low. Simple layouts provide the highest transparency and are
preferable to the consumer (Galitz, 2008, p. 50).
8 Shopbots or shopping robots are automated tools which allow to compare and search for price
and product information of online retailers (Smith, 2002, p. 442).
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7.2 Collection of consumer information
Technological developments have driven the possibilities of new innovative
pricing techniques (Terwiesch et al., p. 339). The seemingly endless amount of
big data9 provides insights on efficiency and new business capabilities. (Fulgoni,
2014, p. 373).
The internet has not only increased price transparency for consumers, but also
facilitated the information flow for sellers. Market transparency can be defined as
“the level of availability and accessibility of information about products and
market prices” (Granados et al., 2008). Information transparency is defined as
“the degree of visibility and accessibility of information” (Zhu, 2002, p. 93). Both
definitions indicate the availability of information about markets, market
participants and products on the internet.
Companies benefit from information on consumer preferences and their price
sensitivity. Traditionally, sellers used zip codes to differentiate consumers. With
the internet, the ability to individually track site visits and activity has increased
(Garbarino & Maxwell, 2010, p. 1066), especially with the continuing
development of processing power and data storage. Especially e-commerce
developments fuel the options to strategise based on market information
(Granados et al., 2010, p. 208). Sellers are increasingly capable of influencing the
information provided to the consumer by revealing, concealing or distorting
market information by strictly following a predetermined transparency strategy
(Granados et al., 2008, p. 730). When companies frequently change their prices
and achieve advanced seller coordination, buyers do have a difficult time
estimating the true price of a product because transparency decreases (Oh &
Lucas, 2006, p. 757).
The internet has brought many opportunities and advantages to companies. The
higher transparency for consumers has a huge impact on pricing. After
researching the basics of how to use price differentiation and its effects, chapters
on reference prices and fairness helped to understand how consumers understand
and judge prices. With the knowledge on internet transparency for both companies
9 “Big data refers to datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database software tools to
capture, store, manage, and analyze” (Manyika et al., 2011, p. 1).
23
and consumers, it will be easier to dive into the issue of dynamic pricing, which
combines the idea of price differentiation with the abilities gained from
technology.
8 Dynamic pricing
8.1 The concept of dynamic pricing
Dynamic Pricing is broadly defined as “as the buying and selling of goods and
services in markets where prices are free to adjust in response to supply and
demand conditions at the individual transaction level” (Garbarino & Lee, 2003,
p. 496). Or more practically speaking: “a pricing strategy in which prices change
either over time, across consumers, or across product / service bundles” (Kannan
& Kopalle, 2001, p. 63).
New possibilities of forming markets on the internet, the possibility of adjusting
prices in short amounts of time and the effectiveness in measuring demand and
analysing competitive prices have helped to develop dynamic pricing strategies on
the internet (Jayaraman & Baker, 2003, pp. 470f.). Kannan and Kopalle (2001,
p. 63) state, that the internet has offered new pricing possibilities, although they
mainly refer to the use of existing strategies for new product or service categories.
Here, dynamic posted-prices and the increase of new product categories in online
auctions are part of this development.
Dynamic pricing has proven to be most efficient with products that are either
perishable, time-sensitive or have a depreciating value (Jayaraman & Baker, 2003,
p. 470). The early applications of dynamic pricing have in fact taken place with
products of limited capacity. Often known as revenue or yield management, the
main emphasis with this technique is the allocation of capacity to different
demand segments (Elmaghraby & Keskinocak, 2003, p. 1288). Over time, as
predicted by Kannan and Kopalle (2001, p. 72), dynamic pricing has also been
adopted to other industries.
Certainly, different products and industries require different approaches to
dynamic pricing. Elmaghraby and Keskinocak (2003, pp. 1289f.) have determined
24
three different criteria of the market environment influencing dynamic pricing
strategy. The first criterion is whether or not inventory replenishment is possible.
This determines whether inventory decisions have to be made at the beginning of
the product’s life-cycle or if there is access to additional units during the season.
The second aspect considers if demand is dependent or independent over time.
Demand is independent over time for most necessities and non-durable products.
On the other hand, when the durability of a product is high, price changes matter
because they affect the overall performance more directly, especially when
knowledge structures influence willingness to pay.
The last criterion of this research is about myopic and strategic consumers.
Myopic consumers act irrationally and buy a commodity as soon as the price is
lower than their reference price, without the consideration of future prices. On the
other hand, strategic consumers always consider how prices might develop over
the life-cycle. When companies face this kind of customer, dynamic pricing is
more complex because more aspects and consumer reactions have to be
considered (Elmaghraby & Keskinocak, 2003, pp. 1289f.).
In order to determine the right price for the consumer, a company needs a vast
amount of information at its disposal. Knowing their operating costs and supply,
as well as future demand predictions, the value of the commodity for the
consumer and the resulting willingness to pay helps determine prices, while low
costs for setting and adjusting prices is another reason why dynamic pricing is
even possible (Elmaghraby & Keskinocak, 2003, p. 1287).
The advantage of dynamic pricing enables companies to increase margins and
collect more consumer surplus. Dynamic pricing has become a critical component
for e-commerce, fuelling the growth of new business ideas and electronic
marketplaces (Jayaraman & Baker, 2003, p. 476).
On the other hand, one reason for not pursuing a dynamic pricing strategy is the
fear of consumer backlash and negative publicity (Hinz et al., 2011).
There are several dynamic pricing methods, generally two broad categories can be
determined (Elmaghraby & Keskinocak, 2003): the posted-price and the
discovery-price mechanisms. With a posted price mechanism, the seller offers
25
commodities at a certain fixed price for buyers to take-it-or-leave-it. In price-
discovery mechanisms or auction pricing, buyers have influence on prices via
bidding processes. Kannan and Kopalle add the dimension of bundle pricing,
where consumers self-select a bundle according to their needs and willingness to
pay. In Figure 1, discovery-price is referred to as auction pricing and all three
types of dynamic pricing are displayed.
Figure 1: Classifications of dynamic pricing by Kannan and Kopalle
Source: Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 66
8.2 Dynamic posted prices
8.2.1 Dynamic price updating
Most medium-value consumer goods which are sold at posted prices in offline
channels are also sold at posted prices online. Still, prices are changing much
more frequently online than in conventional channels (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001,
p. 64). The information efficiency of the internet drives down menu costs10 and
fast-processing of consumer data allows companies to dynamically change posted
prices, often at least once a day (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 64), sometimes once
an hour or even more often (Elmaghraby & Keskinocak, 2003, p. 288).
In the past, posted prices were static and rarely changed, often only over the
course of weeks or months. With dynamic posted-prices, companies change prices
over time according to information on demand, supply and time of sale. They can
price discriminate, especially consumers purchasing in infrequent patterns, who
10 All costs associated with a change in price (Levy et al., 1997, p. 791)
26
are often not aware that they are being price discriminated (Kannan & Kopalle,
2001, p. 71). Posted prices are the most practical pricing strategy for large
quantities of consumer goods, as the transaction process is very fast. Indeed, many
transactions can be fulfilled in short amounts of time (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001,
p. 68).
8.2.2 Dynamic E-coupons
According to Kannan and Kopalle (2001, p. 66), another opportunity arising with
the internet development is the possibility to target promotions individually, using
mass customization in form of dynamic coupons. Dynamic coupons are electronic
coupons who have different values across time and customer characteristics.
Although posted prices stay the same, each customer pays a different price
according to the individual coupons they receive. Depending on their browsing
behaviour and engagement, consumers can receive coupons of varying values.
Dynamic coupons can be set up to reach the right consumer at the right time
(Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 65).
The concept of dynamic coupons can be related to the concept of personalisation
(Wierich & Zielke, 2014, p. 702). The impact of personalisation is based on the
self-reference effect, which indicates that addressing a person’s self-concept
increases their ability of information processing (Burnkrant & Unnava, 1995,
p. 17). Studies have also shown that personalisation generates positive emotions
towards the stimulus (Debevec & Romeo, 1992, p. 97). This indicates that
dynamic coupons can have a potentially higher redemption rate than traditional
coupons.
One of many ways to target consumers at differently effective prices is price
matching. When using this approach, the e-tailer provides a consumer with the
option to price-compare and the subsequent promise to match the lowest price
being offered anywhere else. Only consumers who chose to take advantage of the
price-comparison have the opportunity to decrease the price, similarly to
consumers who chose to use traditional coupons (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 65).
27
While posted prices give the consumer some chance to influence the price by
using coupons or buying a product when the price is at its lowest, discovery-price
mechanisms are mainly steered by the consumer himself.
8.3 Discovery price
8.3.1 Auctions
Auctions comprise the second part of dynamic pricing strategies. They are a
common approach used on the internet, where sellers have access to a large
amount of buyers. In B2B markets, auctions are a common practice. On the other
hand, they are mainly used in B2C markets to sell collectibles, rare items and used
merchandise (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 66). For common products, auctions
are often not pursued, seeing as the cost of participating in that kind of auction
often exceed the expected savings (Jayaraman & Baker, 2003, p. 473). With the
big uncertainties about auction type, duration and bidding tactics, there are many
questions remaining for the optimal method of auctions.
One of the most important decisions of the seller is to set a minimum threshold
price for the auction (Sinha & Greenleaf, 2000, p. 245), which holds as a
reference price for bidders and gives an indication for the value of the product
(Chernev, 2003, p. 51). Sinha and Greenleaf (2000, p. 245) discuss the specific
strategies for sellers depending on the rules of the auction model.
An often used auction model is the open English auction, where bidders raise each
other’s bid until only the highest one is left. In theory, even the smallest of price
increases are allowed, but most practices, especially online auctions, have
established a certain minimum increase of the bid (Sinha & Greenleaf, 2000,
p. 245). Other auction types are the Dutch auction11, the first-price sealed-bid
11 In the Dutch auction, the auctioneer calls offers in descending order; auction ends when a buyer
accepts one of the price offers (Vickrey, 1961, p. 14).
28
auction12 and the Vickrey auction13, but those are not as relevant for the internet
background.
8.3.2 Reverse Auctions
In reverse auctions, commonly known as Name-Your-Own-Price models, a
consumer places a bid on a commodity according to his willingness to pay. If the
bid exceeds the unrevealed price threshold of the buyer, the bid is accepted and
the product is sold at the price of the bid. With limited supply, the first to bid
above the threshold receives the product (Spann & Tellis, 2006, p. 65). Literature
by Spann and Tellis (2006) distinguishes between two classical types of reverse
auctions. Some platforms14 restrict consumers from making more than one bid,
however others allow repeated bidding, therefore giving the consumer a change to
adjust to the invisible threshold. Though the restriction from more than one bid
eliminates the consumers’ possibility to bidding up to the threshold price, which
would eliminate potential profits, it also means that the company might lose
revenue if a consumer might be willing to pay more but is not able to place a
higher bid (Spann et al., 2004).
Unlike classical auctions, a Name-Your-Own-Price company faces consumers
irregularly and has to decide on the acceptance of a bid without observing all
possible bids (Fay, 2004, p. 407). Compared to other pricing strategies, the buyer
in an auction does not have any specific reference point of the price. Since NYOP
strategies are mainly used to sell commodities with no apparent product scarcity,
the consumers do not bid against each other as in normal auctions but against the
sellers’ threshold prices. Furthermore, compared to classical auctions which often
involve scarce products, buyers are not depending on reverse auctions and have
the option of purchasing the product elsewhere (Chernev, 2003, p. 51).
12 In this auction form, the sealed bids are submitted, with the highest bid receiving the object
while paying the amount of this bid (Maskin & Riley, 1984, p. 1482). 13 The Vickrey auctions also works with sealed bids, but instead of his own bid, the highest bidder
has to pay the price submitted by the second-highest bid (Milgrom & Weber, 1982, p. 1090). 14 An example would be Priceline, which only allows for one bid, which is in turn binding if
accepted. Priceline gives pointers indicating the chances of winning the bid at three to four
different price levels (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001).
29
When consumers are able to select their own prices, they are more flexible to
express their willingness to pay than in a scenario with set prices, as they have
unlimited options of suggesting a price instead of just accepting the restriction of
a given price (Chernev, 2003, p. 52). This suggests that generally speaking, a
NYOP strategy is more desirable than an established price situation. Yet, Chernev
(2003, p. 52) also argues that ultimately, the preference of one strategy over the
other depends on the specific context of the situation and whether or not the
bidder has a predetermined reference price and clear expectations. If a reference
price is not available, a reverse auction is more likely to be associated with
uncertainty and risk, which often makes it inferior compared to a posted price.
8.3.3 Exchanges
Exchanges are transactions of goods or services between several buyers and
sellers. They connect buyers and sellers in real-time without being expensive. The
link is established by middlemen that charge a commission or fee for their service
of linking people based on their market knowledge. Exchanges work for a variety
of different industries, but the low entry costs and potential profits have caused an
oversupply. Products sold on exchanges are typically sold and bought in large or
smaller quantities with great time specificity (Jayaraman & Baker, 2003, p. 473).
8.4 Bundling
A bundling strategy involves the collection of goods into a package and selling
them at a discounted bundle price (Bitran & Ferrer, p. 93). There are two types of
variations in bundles. The first type of bundle offers a larger amount of a single
item with a quantity discount. The second type of bundle is when a single good is
included in a bundle with other goods, where the price of the bundle depends on
the specific bundle (Kannan & Kopalle, 2001, p. 67).
The first type of bundle is typically priced lower than the single components, but
the second type of bundles can sometimes be priced higher than the single
components in combination. This may occur with “complementary bundles”,
which is a pre-designed combination designed to operate together. This happens
with products who need complementary products to work. By forming a bundle,
30
the consumer avoids additional efforts in putting together the different single
components (Heeler et al., 2007, p. 493). Research also indicates, that bundle
offers increase purchases, because consumers assume a good bargain and higher
convenience and are indeed more likely to purchase the bundle than the individual
goods (Nguyen et al., 2009, p. 224).
After compiling all relevant information of price differentiation and in particular
all available dynamic pricing strategies, it is time to pursue the next part of this
thesis’ objective. The following hypotheses are based on the theoretical research
but intent to apply the topics into a more practical setting. Especially discussions
on controversial hypotheses and examples will enrich the empirical part. In turn,
the results from the expert interviews will be used to formulate detailed
recommendations on how to use price differentiation.
9 Hypotheses
In order to create an empirical part for this bachelor thesis, the collected theory
was used to induce several hypotheses. These hypotheses aim to substantiate the
theoretical implications of price differentiation in light of business practices and
various products and services, which have been known to be associated to this
pricing technique.
H1: The internet offers new ways of price discrimination.
The first hypothesis is destined to create access to the topic of the bachelor thesis
for the interview participants. It is a basic hypothesis, which will create a base for
the further investigation of the topic and convey a first impression on the
knowledge and emphasis of the different interviewees. Meanwhile, it also
connects the broad topic of price discrimination in relation to the internet, which
will then be further explored.
31
H2: Consumer reference prices differ between offline and online channels.
Going more into detail of one of the aspects regarding price discrimination, this
hypothesis is based on the theoretical assumption that prices should be lower in
online channels than they are in offline channels. Since the theory shows some
ambiguity concerning this assumption, the interview experts are expected to
deliver their opinion on whether or not this holds truth in reality.
H3: Consumer reference prices differ between cultures and countries.
Another assumption concerning reference prices is the difference between price
expectations of different cultures and countries, which has been indirectly
mentioned in the theoretical research. Although literature mainly refers to
differences in actual prices, the idea can also be transferred to reference prices.
This hypothesis is important, since markets are becoming more and more
integrated and companies increasingly operate on a global level, where differences
in cultures do affect all kinds of marketing activities.
H4: With more online transparency people spend more time looking for price
information.
All literature agrees that transparency has increased with the help of internet
technologies. At the same time, studies have revealed very different results on
whether or not the increased transparency leads to an actual increase in search. Of
course, at least being able to estimate the ramifications of transparency gives an
indication for marketers on how to handle the transparency and its results.
Collecting the expert opinions on this hypothesis will allow more specific
recommendations to the marketing practice.
H5: More transparency influences perception of fairness for the consumer.
The perception of fairness is driven by comparing the price and its mechanism
with that for other consumers. Since more transparency facilitates the search for
32
information and the ability to compare, logical conclusion suggests that internet
transparency of costs and prices influences the consumer’s perception the fairness
of a price. By adding this hypothesis to the expert interview, the applicability of
this statement will be tested with regards to different industries and practices.
H6: Price and cost transparency have direct influence on the willingness to pay.
Similarly as in the hypothesis before, willingness to pay - or the reference price -
is also part of the equation with transparency and price fairness. Again, knowing
the structure of costs and prices through increased transparency is allowing the
consumer a better judgement of realistic prices. Accordingly, it can be assumed
that transparency is influencing the development and formulation of both external
and internal reference prices, which ultimately results in willingness to pay.
Verifying this hypothesis allows the better understanding of other influential
factors and how these factors can be positively influenced.
H7: For companies the main advantages of internet transparency are new pricing
possibilities with regards to more specific segmentation and a better
understanding of the consumer with new possibilities of market research and data
collection.
With this hypothesis, the focus moves to the company side, trying to distinguish
how they benefit from increased market and information transparency. As
research shows, technological advances have created new chances for pricing and
access to a large amount of information. While this is endorsed by the theory, the
main aim of this hypothesis is to confirm the theory and find other advantages for
companies that have not been discussed in the summary of the theoretical
background.
33
H8: The main disadvantages are increased transparency of costs and prices plus
the danger of arbitrage.
Focusing on the disadvantages of transparency, deduction from the theory
concedes the formulation of this hypothesis. Although companies have the ability
to collect more information, consumers also have more knowledge, which leads to
increased competition. Exclusion of arbitrage has often been stated in the theory
as one of the requirements for price discrimination. It is also the sole requirement
most affected by the advance of technologies, although a logical assumption
would be to see the danger of arbitrage as one of the main disadvantages. As this
has been mainly derived from a combination of different theoretical aspects and
has no actual literature as backup, the answers for this hypothesis will potentially
diverge in each expert interview. Only by knowing the disadvantages of
transparency for companies can solutions be found to improve those conditions.
H9: For companies the advantages gained from increased transparency are more
substantial than the disadvantages.
Through working on the theoretical part of this bachelor thesis, the advantages
gained from transparency are assumed to be of higher substance than
disadvantages. Reviewing this hypothesis sums up this set of questions and
possibly confirms the usefulness of the internet advance, which then can be used
to show companies how to improve their strategies regarding their online presence
and use.
H10: The internet has increased the risks and options of arbitrage.
As discussed in theory, the internet connects markets and increases the
interactions between buyers and sellers. Differences in prices can be exploited by
reselling via online channels. Since prohibiting arbitrage has been found to be one
of the requirements for price differentiation, it is important to collect opinions on
the actual danger of arbitrage through technological advances and possible
solutions to improve a companies’ position.
34
H11: For international PD, arbitrage costs are decreasing because of easier
access to markets, decreasing transportation costs and free trade zones.
Arbitrage is anticipated to have become easier in recent years, because markets
are connected through trade zones and lower transportation costs and generally
easier access to globally scattered markets. These developments lead to the
assumption that arbitrage costs are decreasing for resellers, so the benefits
increase and arbitrage might generally be more attractive. Analysing the results
for this hypothesis could help with the risk assessment for arbitrage and determine
which companies and products are particularly vulnerable. From this risk
assessment, strategies to conquer arbitrage might be a further result from this
empirical analysis.
H12: Dynamic Pricing is more accepted with perishable goods and services
compared to non-perishable categories.
Dynamic pricing in literature is mainly researched in the areas of perishable
products and services or in cases where supply is limited. This is conclusive in all
theoretical approaches, since price differences for perishable commodities and
services are evident. The key to acceptance is explaining and understanding the
reasons behind the strategy. It seems quite obvious that this works better when
something is perishable, inseparable, intangible or lacks homogeneity. This
hypothesis might also shed some light on other categories with effectively
dynamic pricing.
H13: Dynamic pricing can only be realized on the internet as costs of
implementation are too high in offline channels.
The costs of changing a price includes the physical work of actually changing the
price plus the costs of making a pricing strategy. The costs of formulating a
strategy normally not necessarily change in between channels, implementing the
price does indeed show differences in prices, as offline channels need more
35
personnel and time to actually change each physically existing product price.
Online channels just use software to quickly change pricing schemes. The
difference concerning the costs are assumed to be substantial. Charging dynamic
prices based on time of purchase and consumer characteristics does simply not
seem beneficial in offline channels. By checking this specific hypothesis, the
theory of prices in different channels and the concrete application for dynamic
pricing strategies becomes more obvious.
H14: Dynamic Pricing is considered an unfair pricing technique and will cause
the consumer to stray from the brand.
Considering the thoroughly discussed topic of fairness in relation to dynamic
pricing, the indications gathered from fairness theory indicate that price
differences not explained by cost differences are often considered unfair. Some
pricing strategies, including traditional price differentiation, have indeed been
accepted. But the general idea of discriminatory pricing is not easily accepted by
the consumer. Since this hypothesis is based on the consumers’ view on price
differentiation, theoretical approaches can only go so far. Above all it is helpful to
know the different evaluations of this statement by experts in this certain field, let
alone their long-term experiences with consumer research and their applications
of different strategies.
H15: Name-your-own-price (NYOP) transactions are the easiest way to capture
the consumers’ willingness to pay.
NYOP as one alternative of dynamic pricing techniques is a reverse auction,
where consumers bid without any reference point, solely based on their
willingness to pay or at least their assumption of product value. In comparison to
other dynamic pricing alternatives, the consumers can only rely on their internal
reference price. Furthermore, whereas other dynamic pricing strategies might aim
at individual pricing, NYOP does not require any substantial market research or
consumer knowledge for individual consumers. The hypothesis represents the
36
idea, that this strategy is the easiest way for a company, to skim consumer surplus
and subsequently increase profits.
If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would indicate that many more companies
should adapt this strategy. In any case, a thorough discussion on this hypothesis
will give valuable insights into the different options to capture willingness to pay.
H16: Most consumers don’t take advantage of price discrimination in form of
coupons.
Coupons are part of self-selection second-degree price discrimination. In dynamic
pricing, dynamic coupons have emerged and are used on an increasingly regular
basis. Since many companies are still using traditional coupons, which are
distributed to a large potential customer base, the actual impact of these coupons
is questioned though this hypothesis. Is will be assumed that the large amount of
coupons and the effort associated with selecting the right coupon at the right time
causes many consumers to avoid these efforts and pass on coupons’ benefit.
Whether this means that companies should only use dynamic coupons or no
coupons at all, and whether this hypothesis is even true, will be researched with
the help of the expert interviews.
37
10 Methodology
In order to allow for a practical approach of the intensively discussed theoretical
background, the following part consists of expert interviews. These interviews
aim at discussing and deepening the application of several derived hypotheses.
The empirical part of this thesis consists of expert interviews, which were
preferred over other empirical methods as this is a qualitative and rather
explorative setting, where the recommendations of the topic of price
discrimination and specifically dynamic pricing are desired outcomes. Since this
paper focuses on the possibilities and challenges in this particular pricing area,
conducting expert interviews with different insights into the implementation and
importance of these strategies seemed to lead to the best results.
The objective was to find someone with a theoretical or practical knowledge about
price differentiation and ideally also in dynamic pricing strategies, as those
interviewees were most promising for the thorough analysis of the topic.
In order to find suitable interview partners, contact was made to different
marketing and pricing consultants in Germany, preferably those with a B2C
background, as they fit the criteria for the interview better. Furthermore, contact
was made with professors from German institutions, based on their fields of
expertise and publications in the area of price discrimination, revenue
management and dynamic pricing. Further opportunities arose by using personal
connections through the “Tandem” mentoring program of Pforzheim Business
School, which created the contact to a marketing consultant as well as an
employee of Hewlett Packard, who both were very helpful in gathering qualitative
data. As the only international interview partner, contact was established towards
the partner university TEC de Monterrey, where the professor for our pricing
course in fourth semester was asked to complete the questionnaire.
In total, contact was made with around 35 different potential pricing experts,
although most did not reply to the initial e-mail. Of those who replied, some were
too busy with their working schedules to work out a matching date, while others
were surprisingly flexible in their schedules and had both time and interest in
participating in this bachelors thesis. Some of the interviewees asked to receive
the bachelor thesis upon completion.
38
The expert interviews were conducted with eight different experts in the area of
marketing, pricing, e-commerce and operations research. The idea was to collect
as many different perspectives as possible while asking the same hypotheses and
supporting questions. Expert interviews were chosen as a means to empirically
investigate the topic beyond the theory, as these experts all have experience in
pricing practices and can best determine if and how price differentiation,
especially dynamic pricing in the sense of individual differentiation, can be
applied in different industries and with varying products.
The questions were aimed to answer the several hypotheses, as well as go into
detail on examples, insights and opinions of the respective experts. Together with
the theoretical analysis of the topic, the interview results will be the base for the
recommendation section.
The following interviewees helped to complete this thesis with their
knowledgeable input.
The first interview was with Daniel Korany, who works as a project manager in a
pricing consultancy, mainly focusing on the B2B area. As a former student of the
“International Marketing” programme at Pforzheim University, contact was
established through Professor Walter.
Norbert Weisshaar, a partner of the mentoring program “Tandem” at Pforzheim
University is the mentor of a classmate and a pricing consultant, who also
specializes in price negotiation and sales.
Jochen Gönsch is chair holder for the chair of business administration, particularly
for service operations at Mercator School of Management at the University
Duisburg-Essen. He has several publications on the topic of dynamic pricing and
revenue management with his focus on operations management.
Werner Tauss owns his own consultancy for pricing and yield management. He
shared a lot of his experiences with the pricing of airlines and cruise ships and
offered great examples of how pricing in these industries work.
Tim Brzoska, a pricing consultant at Simon-Kucher & Partners, the world’s
leading consultancy for pricing, works for both B2C and B2B projects. In this
39
interview, due to time constraints, some questions were left out in order to put
focus on the rest of the questions and gain insightful knowledge on those.
Irene van der Wal works as product manager at Hewlett Packard. As a colleague
of the “Tandem” mentor Jeannette Weisschuh, she offered her knowledge on the
pricing topic. With her financial and marketing background, she was a very
knowledgeable candidate for the interview.
José Francisco Guzmán Tanikawa works as a professor at Instituto Tecnológico y
de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, at Campus Monterrey in Mexico. He was
the pricing professor who initiated my interest for the area of pricing. He is also
the director of marketing at EGADE business school, the graduate school of TEC
de Monterrey. He answered the interview in writing, mainly due to the time zone
differences and his busy schedule.
One interview was conducted personally during an internship at Daimler AG with
the expert on price perception at Mercedes-Benz Vans Wolfgang Sessler. Since
automotive pricing does not include dynamic pricing strategies today, the
interview was not strictly focused on the thesis questionnaire. Instead, Mr Sessler
explained the pricing system of his expertise and only answered some of the given
questions.
Many of the questions were not answered directly enough to draw a strong
conclusion about the opinion. Not wanting to misinterpret the answers, they were
categorized as neutral and will be listed with the affirmations and the refusals in
order to discuss why exactly the opinion was not stated more precisely.
All interviews had a duration of 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the number of
questions asked and the elaborateness of the answers.
40
11 Findings
The internet offers new ways of price discrimination.
This was a very openly stated question to ease into the topic, which led the
interviewees to talk about various aspects of internet pricing. Four out of seven
answers confirmed the hypothesis, while three remained neutral, not showing a
clear tendency for or against the statement.
Concerning general changes which have derived from technological advances,
“the internet offers flexible possibilities to show offers”15, which according to Mr
Tauss has great impact on how pricing has to be done. Mr Gönsch gives credit to
new possibilities of individual customization by mentioning that “[…] on the
internet, a product can be freely configured, without the restrictions in a shop
[…].”16 Likewise, Mr Brzoska sees great potential on the internet as “technically
there are more ways to target the consumer, because you have specific
information and it is easier to change prices.”17
Focusing more on the specific changes for pricing, Mr Weisshaar explained, that
“the dominance of the price factor has increased”18, indicating that pricing has
become a more important topic. Likewise, Mr Guzmán agrees that “people can
check prices easily, so markets are more sensible to prices”.
Moving even closer to the main topic of the hypothesis, there has also been
developments for price differentiation with the rise of technological advances.
According to Mr Gönsch, the internet has increased flexibility in many ways:
“Interesting are companies which go towards first degree price discrimination,
with the use of coupons, with which you try to reach individual customers.”19
15 „Im Internet sind die Möglichkeiten viel flexibler, Angebote anzuzeigen.“ (Werner Tauss) 16 „Bei Dienstleistungen kann man über das Internet mehr Konfiguration beim Produkt vornehmen
als im Ladengeschäft, egal welches Produkt denn es braucht nicht die Zeit des Verkäufers.“
(Jochen Gönsch) 17 „Ja, rein technisch gesehen hat man viel mehr Möglichkeiten, den Kunden gezielter
anzusprechen, weil man gezieltere Informationen über den Kunden hat und es technisch besser
funktioniert, Preise zu ändern.“ (Tim Brzoska) 18 „Dominanz des Preises hat zugenommen.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 19 „Interessant sind Unternehmen, die in Werbeaussagen und Pressemeldungen in Richtung ersten
Grades diskriminieren.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
41
With this, he already mentions some aspects for upcoming hypotheses and
demonstrates his expertise on the topic.
He also demonstrates his knowledge by giving examples of particular pricing
mechanisms. Mr Gönsch introduces an example of a pricing strategy which has
evolved through technological advances. He talks about blind booking, a
particular concept for airline pricing: “Blind booking has a fixed price but at the
time of booking, the customer does not know where the journey will go. The more
destinations you delete, the more expensive, but the consumer is able to influence
the outcome to match his needs.”20 This particular example is a great illustration
of second-degree price differentiation, where consumers choose how much
convenience they want and how much they are willing to pay for it.
Although all these statements clearly illustrate the advantages of the internet, the
interviewees have also discovered disadvantages. For one, Mr Brzoska does not
believe that it is as easy to charge different prices in different channels: “It
becomes increasingly difficult to price differentiate between channels.”21At the
same time, he knows that not only has transparency increased for companies, but
more and more “the challenge is higher transparency for consumers.”22
Corresponding to this, Mr Korany explains how “companies have an interest in
having satisfied customers”23 but he also realizes “how consumer have more
power in the purchasing process.”24 With these challenges, companies need to be
smart on how to do their pricing.
Being experts in pricing also lead the experts to give indicators how to act as a
company. For one, Mr Weisshaar is convinced that “sellers have to tell their value
story and have to be smart with the target group.”25 Furthermore, in order to be
able to satisfy customers and use the increased transparency on the internet, Mr
Tauss indicates that “the company has to find out what the consumer wants.
20 „Blind Booking bei Germanwings: Flug buchen aber bei der Buchung ist es unklar, wohin man
fliegt. Je mehr Ziele man ausschließt, desto teurer aber desto klarer beeinflussbar, wohin die Reise
geht.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 21 „Es wird immer schwieriger, Preisdifferenzierung über Kanäle zu betreiben.“ (Tim Brzoska) 22 „Die Herausforderung ist, dass auch mehr Transparenz herrscht.“ (Tim Brzoska) 23 „Unternehmen haben Interesse, Konsumenten zufrieden zu stellen.“ (Daniel Korany) 24 „Die Hauptänderung ist, dass der Konsument einen stärkeren Einfluss hat.“ (Daniel Korany) 25 „Verkäufer müssen ihre Value Story erzählen und in den Zielgruppen intelligenter arbeiten.“
(Norbert Weisshaar)
42
Market research can lead to surprising results.”26 If there were any doubts as to
why companies should invest in this, Mr Weisshaar clearly knows the answer. He
uses a statistic to demonstrate the power of pricing, as “the price lever. With a one
percent price change comes more than twelve percent change in profits.”27
Overall, the experts have shown that the internet has indeed changed the way of
how business and pricing in particular works. Technological advances are
responsible for many new possibilities in the pricing area, but there are also new
challenges und obstacles because the consumer suddenly also has more prospects.
Some more of these particular developments are targeted in the rest of the
hypotheses and will be focused on.
Consumer reference prices differ between offline and online channels.
On the topic of reference prices and their differences between channels, the
experts were not in agreement. In fact, while three did not see differences between
channels, four other experts supported the hypothesis.
Arguing for differences between channels, Mr Brzoska illustrates: “I believe that
the expectation of lower prices online has been established. You expect that. But I
think that the added value online is much higher, because convenience is
higher.”28 Mr Brzoska also has an idea about why prices online are lower than in
traditional offline channels. He states that “online channels could always offer
lower prices because of their cost structure. The companies did not realize the
value of the online channel for the consumer.”29 Since theory has shown that the
internal reference price can be based on past prices, it is not surprising that there
might be differences between channels. After talking about reference prices in
online channels, with the advantage for consumers to quickly compare prices, Mr
Gönsch does not see the same possibilities for offline channels as “offline you
26 „Das Unternehmen muss herausfinden, was der Kunde will. Dabei kann man ganz schöne
Überraschungen in der Marktforschung erleben.“ (Werner Tauss) 27 „Hebel des Preises. 1% Preisänderungen bedeuten 12,5% mehr Erträge.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 28 „Ich glaube schon, dass sich mittlerweile der Gedanke verfestigt hat, dass man es online
günstiger bekommt. Man erwartet das ein bisschen. Obwohl ich glaube, der Mehrwert online ist
größer als in Läden, weil die convenience größer ist.“ (Tim Brzoska) 29 „Online konnte man immer günstiger anbieten, weil sie geringere Kostenstrukturen haben. Die
haben verpasst zu erkennen, dass ihr Kanal mehr Wert für den Kunden darstellt.“ (Tim Brzoska)
43
have more of a feeling what a product should cost, no direct comparison.”30 In the
meantime, Mr Weisshaar offers some substantial reasons as to why prices offline
are expected and accepted to be higher, “because you have the experience; the
nice salesperson who can communicate the price much better.”31 With these
background of offline channels, it makes sense to have differences in reference
prices.
Several of the interviewees believe that these differences in reference prices can
be attributed to the fact that it is much easier to get actual price information
online. First of all, Mr Gönsch points out that “in online channels, you can form a
reference price, which represents the actual price”32. According to Mr Gönsch,
that can be attributed to the fact that “in online channels, you can make price
comparisons quickly“33. In line with this reasoning, Mr Guzmán agrees: “You can
easily have a reference price, just by using another website of a different store or
provider.” Because of how easy price comparison online has become, Mr Korany
established another finding on reference prices: “The ERP has lost some of its
strength. The suggested retail price does not play a big role in online channels,
because you are quick to get other references to judge fairness.”34 While the
theory already dedicated much influence to the internal reference price, this
indicates that it might indeed be more difficult to influence reference prices
online.
Concluding the overall results for this topic, the interviews in most cases
supported the theoretical research on reference prices between channels. Due to
more information online, reference prices are supposedly more accurate and lower
due to the fact that the cost structure online is lower than in traditional offline
channels.
30 „Im Laden hat man eher ein Gefühl was das gut kosten sollte, aber da steckt kein direkter
Preisvergleich dahinter.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 31 „Viele machen keinen Unterschied mehr, aber grundsätzlich höherer Referenzpreis da man das
Erlebnis hat, einen netten Verkäufer, hier kann die Kommunikation zum Preis besser aufgebaut
werden.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 32 „Online hat man eher einen Referenzpreis, der eine reale Preis ist zu dem ich das gut auch
bestellen kann.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 33 „Ja ich glaube als Kunde ist man im online Kanal sehr schnell Vergleichspreise besorgen kann.“
(Jochen Gönsch) 34 „Der ERP hat online ein bisschen an Stärke verloren. Die unverbindliche Preisempfehlung spielt
online weniger eine Rolle, da man schnell andere Referenzen einholen kann um die Fairness zu
beurteilen.“ (Daniel Korany)
44
Consumer reference prices differ between cultures and countries.
With many companies acting on an international level, it becomes more and more
important to know about the difference in behavior and expectations between the
countries. All eight pricing experts answered this questions, six were clearly in
favour of this hypothesis and two more reserved on a neutral standpoint.
First of all, we have the argument in favour of this hypothesis, with Mr Gönsch
stating that, “the actual price is surely different. The goods in the different
markets are objectively also differently priced.”35 While Mr Korany agrees with
the general notion of the text, he also points out that these differences between
countries become smaller. He declares that “prices for a product in different
countries become more similar and so the reference prices become more similar as
well.”36 While he sees some differences between countries, Mr Guzmán remains
sceptical concerning the hypothesis: “I don’t think that the culture by itself could
be significant.” Because Mr Guzmán did not completely deny a relevance, he was
considered in a neutral perspective. Also not completely satisfied with the
wording of the hypothesis is Mr Gönsch, who emphasizes that „surely there are
already differences in a country between different age groups and depending on
the product.”37
After talking about the difference in reference prices, the experts help to
understand what influences reference prices. Mr Tauss gives his opinion on the
main influence on reference prices, which are “definitely the product elements.”38
Meanwhile, Mr Weisshaar finds other factors which influence reference prices:
“Competitors’ behaviour, transparency between channels and to lower one’s
sights in terms of service or availability.”39 These influencing factors are
35 „Grundsätzlich ist der konkrete Preis sehr sicher immer unterschiedlich. Die Sachen sind in
verschiedenen Marlten objektiv auch unterschiedlich teuer.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 36 „Preise werden ähnlicher zwischen verschiedenen Ländern und damit werden auch die
Referenzpreise ähnlicher.“ (Daniel Korany) 37 „Sicher unterscheidet sich auch die Art, wie sich der Referenzpreis bildet, selbst schon innerhalb
eines Landes je nach Alter und Produktgruppe.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 38 „Mit Sicherheit die Produktelemente.” (Werner Tauss) 39 „Wettbewerbsverhalten, Transparenz dass es beim Onlineshop das Produkt günstiger gibt und
Abstriche machen z.B. bei Service oder Verfügbarkeit.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
45
important to understand and it is any company’s responsibility to target these
factors and try to influence them.
Even with all the information on how reference prices vary, Mr Gönsch gives an
example of a situation, where the reference prices wouldn’t influence purchase
behaviour. He claims that “when people are thirsty, they buy something to drink,
even if it is more expensive.”40
With the findings from this hypothesis, it can be concluded that there are some
differences between price levels and reference prices between countries, although
experts might argue that they become smaller with the increase of
internationalisation. Important to know is that these differences between prices
can affect arbitrage and that pricing one product in different countries requires
research on the perception of value in order to price it right.
With more online transparency people spend more time looking for price
information.
The fact that transparency has increased has been established through research.
Whether an increase leads to more search time will now also be assessed by
analysing the opinions of the interviewees. Five of seven experts clearly affirmed
the hypothesis, while two gave answers which could not clearly be assigned as yes
or no.
Going into detail on why this statement holds true, Mr Korany offers an
explanation as to why consumers spend more time looking for information: „The
purchasing process becomes more complicated. There are more options, more
products and different prices. That’s why the consumer needs more time.”41 By
adding the word “complicated”, Mr Korany already indicates which kind of
product needs the most information search. Irene van der Wal agrees: “I do
believe that people spend more time to find a good price for them online, but
mainly for products that do not belong to your daily needs.” In the meantime, Mr
40 „Wenn sie unterwegs sind und Durst haben dann kaufen Sie etwas, auch wenn es teuer ist.“
(Jochen Gönsch)
41 „Die Kaufentscheidung wird schwieriger, Mehr Optionen, mehr Produkte, verschiedene Preise,
deshalb braucht er mehr Zeit.“ (Daniel Korany)
46
Guzmán does not point out the product characteristics, but rather the consumers’
characteristics: “It depends how important the decision it is to you. The
involvement in the decision is crucial in order to know the amount of information
the customer is willing to have.”
Mr Brzoska offers several criteria, which influence the length of the search: “It
strongly depends on the product. There are several dimensions with influence.
How much do I invest, how emotionally involved am I, how important is the
product? How many people are involved in the buying process?”42 All these
questions influence how important the search for information is for the consumer
and how much time and detail he will put into accumulating information. Mr
Guzmán gives specific examples on the differences in search volume. He thinks
that “if you have a low involvement product like a soap, consumers are not
willing to handle a lot of information but for an insurance or a car, they will be.”
Mrs van der Wal adds another potentially important aspect: “Also, exclusivity of a
product can have an influence.”
After learning about these basic criteria for search behavior, Mr Guzmán voices
an interesting opinion about online behaviour as part of a generation issue: “A
millennial will be much more willing to invest time looking on the internet than a
baby boomer.” With his perception of the differences between generations he
indicates an interesting concept, which could ultimately affect how information is
distributed.
Of course, there have also been opposite opinions on the actual transparency of
the internet. Mr Sessler points out the differences with cars, where „the internet
does not offer an objective price comparison, because you will only see list prices,
while all cars get dealer discounts up to thirty percent.”43 Similarly critical is Mrs
van der Wal, who doesn’t think that “pricing online is at all transparent. Prices
changes depend on time or even sometimes on your profile or internet
buying/searching behavior.” It is important to keep in mind that these statement
42 „Das hängt stark von dem Produkt ab. Da gibt es verschiedene Dimensionen, die das
beeinflussen. Wie viel investiere ich, wie stark bin ich emotional involviert – wie wichtig ist das
Produkt. Wie viele Entscheider sind involviert, das beeinflusst die Suche ebenfalls. Es kommt
natürlich auch darauf an, wie oft man ein Produkt kauft.“ (Tim Brzoska) 43 „Internet bietet keinen objektiven Preisvergleich, weil nur Listenpreise vergleichbar sind, dabei
sind alle Preise nachlassbehaftet, bis zu 30%.“ (Wolfgang Sessler)
47
do not criticise the hypothesis itself, but rather doubt the transparency underlying
the increased online search. As such, they should be kept in mind as an indicator
that consumers might not always believe the price information they find online.
Summing up, the experts shed some more light on the theoretical approaches to
the topic by giving differences in generations, customer segments, industries and
the type of product in question. Overall they show support for the hypothesis,
while pointing out some problems and areas for improvement. Still, the results
from the analysis is that it can be said that the internet has offered more ways of
search which are used to find information for certain products and that internet
search has mostly increased. For companies this could indicate that internet
presence is more important than ever and that whatever information is put on the
internet, is also immediately available to potential customers.
More transparency influences perception of fairness for the consumer as
knowledge structures can be built.
The expert interviews have shown that customers most probably spend more time
searching for price information with the increasing possibilities of the internet.
The corresponding transparency allows customers to have a better picture of the
market. How the experts consider this transparency to affect fairness is reflected
in their answers. Out of seven answers to this question, five experts confirmed the
statement, one remained neutral and one did not agree with the hypothesis.
As one of the experts who approves of this hypothesis, Mr Korany believes that
fairness can be judged much more accurately with the help of online information.
He knows that “yes, we can now have a much better picture about the fairness of a
price. We have transparency of prices and quality.”44 Especially having
transparency on both aspects should make it easier for customers to judge the
price-performance ratio. As shown in prior hypotheses, by making price
information available, reference prices are easily formed. Mr Sessler offers his
opinion for the automotive industry by adding to the existing arguments: “If one
44 „Ja, wir können uns jetzt ein besseres Bild über Fairness des Preises machen. Wir haben
Transparenz über die Qualität und die Preise.“ (Daniel Korany)
48
gets a five percent discount and the other gets thirty percent discount, of course
that is a reason to be upset.”45 To sum up this line of reasoning, Mr Gönsch states
that “price transparency gives the feeling of a reference price and if a price is
much higher than the market price, without understanding the reason why, I will
consider it unfair.”46
Although transparency seems to generally influence the perception of fairness, Mr
Korany, who has experience with B2B and B2C states: “In B2B the effect of price
fairness transfers to the whole relationship and has lasting influence. Even if at
one point the price is not as low as the client would like, if he was treated fairly in
the past he would still consider it fair now.”47 On the other hand, “With B2C, the
effect is not so strong; you don’t bond over fair prices but loyalty programs.”48
With these differences in the discussion, it would make sense to conduct market
research on the particular target group with the particular product or service. Since
these statements might vary and could indicate different approaches, it seems to
be quite dependent on the product.
Overall, the pricing experts have established that fairness is indeed a very
important factor in the relationship between company and customer. Mr
Weisshaar thinks that the feeling of unfairness might cause “a negative image due
to negative WOM”49. Mr Gönsch voices the worst potential effect of unfairness:
“If I feel treated unfairly, I would no longer want a relationship to the
company.”50 Mr Guzmán has a similar opinion: “if a loyal consumer feels an
unfair relation with the company, their reaction will be stronger”. Obviously,
treating a customer fairly is very important and any pricing strategy should
incorporate that.
45 „Wenn der eine 5% Nachlass bekommen hat und der Andere 30%, dann ist das natürlich ein
Grund sich zu echauffieren.“ (Wolfgang Sessler) 46 „Aus Preistransparenz ergibt sich dann ein Gefühl was der Marktpreis sein soll und wenn ein
Preis extrem über dem Marktpreis ist, ohne dass ich verstehe warum, dann empfinde ich das als
unfair.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 47 „Im B2B: Peak Experiences, Effekt von Preis Fairness würde man auf die ganze Beziehung
transferieren, langfristiger Einfluss auf die Kundenbeziehung. Auch wenn spätere Preise nicht
ganz so niedrig wären wie erwünscht, würde der Kunde es als fair ansehen.“ (Daniel Korany) 48„Bei Konsumenten ist der Effekt meiner Meinung nach nicht so stark, man bindet nicht über
faire Preise sondern über Loyalty Programme, Effekt eher kurzfristig.“ (Daniel Korany) 49 „Negatives Image durch negatives WOM.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 50 „Wenn ich das Gefühl habe, jemand macht mir einen unfairen Preis würde ich keine weitere
Beziehung zu dem Unternehmen mehr wünschen.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
49
Mr Weisshaar gives pointers as to how companies can influence the perception of
fairness. He states that you need “transparency about the additional value of a
higher price. You need to teach this to the consumer and the employees. The value
story is more than product and price, it’s about the whole marketing mix.”51
Therefore he suggests that “you have to explain your prices”.52 Mr Gönsch also
thinks that if you explain prices properly, “the costumer will then hopefully see
why the price is expensive and decide for the product”.53 Mr Weisshaar also
knows that “for products or services with good reviews, the consumer has a higher
willingness to pay”.54 Being open about the advantages of your product and the
additional value obviously improves willingness to pay.
The pricing experts have overall agreed with the theory on how fairness is
expected and how it is rewarded. The interviews have proven how important it is
to be fair and how a company can influence price changes in order to adhere their
positive customer relationships. Again, it is important to understand the
motivation of the customer and how he perveices prices. With the results,
appropriate actions can be taken when undergoing a change in pricing strategy or
when trying to improve the current one.
Price and cost transparency have direct influence on the willingness to pay.
Since transparency online has increased, the research has shown that through price
comparisons and a vast amount of information, theoretically, the willingness to
pay should be influenced. With six out of seven positive affirmations and only one
rejection of the hypothesis, the majority of the pricing experts seem to agree with
the theory.
51 „Transparenz über den Mehrwert, um den Preis zu rechtfertigen, wie setzt sich der Preis
zusammen. Mehr aufklären, sowohl Verkäufer als auch Kunde; Value Story ist mehr als Produkt
und Preis, sondern gesamter Marketing Mix.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 52 „Man muss den Preis erklären.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 53 „Dann sieht der Kunde hoffentlich ein, warum der Preis teurer ist und entscheidet sich dafür.“
(Jochen Gönsch) 54 „Ja, bei guten Bewertungen von Produkten und Services ist der Konsument eher bereit was zu
bezahlen.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
50
Indeed, Mr Gönsch acknowledges this hypothesis as „the more transparent the
market, the more do I have a reference price in mind”55, which has also been
confirmed in the prior hypotheses for reference prices. Mr Brzoska knows, that
there is not only transparency for prices. He claims that “price transparency often
indicates more transparency on quality. If a product is of good quality, I am
willing to pay more.”56 As already established, it is important to explain prices
and transparency on quality could be part of such an explanation.
With this in mind, a general recommendation from Mr Weisshaar would be “[…]
to speak the language of the target group and meet their expectations. Have clear
messages for the consumer.”57 With this, it is much easier to achieve success. It
also emphasizes how important it is to know the consumer.
Apart from transparency, the questionnaire aimed at understanding the other
influencing factors, which change willingness to pay. The interviewees point out
that there are indeed several factors which have influence on the consumer’s
willingness to pay. Mr Korany knows several factors which change the purchase
situation: “Is it a present or for myself? My willingness to pay will be higher for
presents.”58 He also names “customer reviews, the speed of transaction”59 as well
as “how fast do I need the product?”60 as important factors. Indeed, according to
Mr Guzmán, even the weather counts: “you are more willing to pay a higher price
for a coffee when it is cold than when it is hot.” All of these factors influence the
perception of prices, which clearly shows that convenience has great value as well
as the purpose of the purchase.
On the other hand, when it comes to factors which might not have an influence,
there is some controversy. Mr Korany mentions the hypothesis, that “hard factors,
such as income, have a small influence.”61 While this is indeed an interesting
55 „Je transparenter der Markt, je mehr habe ich einen Referenzpreis im Kopf.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 56 „Transparenz auf der Preisseite bedeutet oft auch mehr Transparenz auf der Qualitätsseite.
Wenn ein Produkt gut ist, bin ich auch bereit mehr zu zahlen.“ (Tim Brzoska) 57 „Ja, man muss die Sprache der Zielgruppe sprechen und Erwartungshaltungen erfüllen, Angebot
nicht in Technoquatsch formulieren sondern klare Botschaften für die gewünschten Zielgruppen.“
(Norbert Weisshaar) 58 „Geschenk oder für mich selbst? Die Zahlungsbereitschaft für ein Geschenk wäre größer.“
(Daniel Korany) 59 „Käuferbewertungen, Geschwindigkeit der Abwicklung.“ (Daniel Korany) 60 „“Wie schnell brauche ich das Produkt?“ (Daniel Korany) 61 „Harte Faktoren wie Einkommen spielen einen kleineren Einfluss.“ (Daniel Korany)
51
hypothesis, Mr Gönsch is of different opinion and points out the opposite: „Surely
the financial possibilities. There are product categories for which I find the price
appropriate but I won’t buy because it’s not within my financial possibilities.”62
This interesting contradiction indicates that there might be potential for further
research on the influential factors and that although there is much unison on the
influences of willingness to pay, there is also no clear findings on how influential
the income factor is.
The goal for this statement was to understand if the pricing experts with their
practical experience agree with the theory and what other aspects they might
discuss. The discussion has shown that even with such an nearly unanimous
distribution, there are still varying opinions on basic influences of willingness to
pay, which indicates that not only there is room for further research on the
specific topics but also that there is no single true answer to the questions in this
context.
For companies the main advantages of internet transparency are new pricing
possibilities with regards to more specific segmentation and a better
understanding of the consumer with new possibilities of market research and data
collection.
After establishing the effects of the internet on prices, this hypothesis considers
the advantages of internet transparency. The question received different responses,
with three out of seven answering in the affirmative, three not really giving a clear
statement and one denying the proposition.
For Mr Tauss, the internet gives the advantage of the „speed of doing things,
either price changes or other rule changes”63. While this statement concerns the
implementation of prices on the internet, Mr Tauss also know that the internet
allows companies “to be flexible and understand consumer behavior”64. Mr
62 „Sicherlich auch die eigenen Möglichkeiten. Es gibt Produktkategorien, bei denen ich den Preis
für angemessen halte, die ich aber trotzdem nicht kaufe weil es über meinen finanziellen
Möglichkeiten liegt.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 63 „Die Geschwindigkeit mit der ich Dinge in den Markt stellen kann, seien es Preisveränderungen
oder andere Spielregeln.“ (Werner Tauss) 64 „Außerdem ist man sehr flexibel und kann sehr gut das Kundenverhalten nachvollziehen.“
(Werner Tauss)
52
Brzoska agrees and states that „if I have consumers, I know much more about
them”65, clearly indicating that the knowledge about the consumer is increased,
which can help in the process of finding the ideal pricing strategy. What adds to
this process of finding a strategy is the collection of consumer data, because
according to Mr Tauss, that can show “at what point of the sales funnel/buying
process does the consumer leave.”66 Gathering such insights is particularly
important, because it shows where the problems are and why the customer might
not buy the product. Once the point of exit is determined, further research can
help to avoid similar exists in the future. Besides being able to have the
knowledge on the consumer and indicators for pricing strategies and their
implementation, Mr Brzoska adds that “Obviously, the advantage is to focus on a
much bigger customer group.”67 Clearly, the internationalisation of the internet
gives access to target groups all around the world, which can be focused on by
knowing their differences. As indicated with the differences in reference prices,
different customers in different countries have to face different pricing strategies.
Overall, the interviewees generally agreed with the hypotheses, but also
emphasized how this depends on the specific situations. The knowledge
avaiblable online and the potential of new consumer groups and markets has high
potential but can also be a great challenge for companies.
The main disadvantages are increased transparency of costs and prices plus the
danger of arbitrage.
Knowing the business world inside out, the pricing experts have all agreed that
besides the advantages there are also disadvantages and threats associated with
increased transparency. Seven answers to this hypothesis were collected and five
clearly agreed with the statement. Two of the pricing experts gave no clear answer
but instead explained what they consider to be most disadvantageous.
65 „Ansonsten, wenn ich Kunden habe, dann weiß ich viel mehr über sie.“ (Tim Brzoska) 66 „Bis zu welchem Schritt des Kaufprozesses geht der Kunde und wann steigt er aus.“ (Werner
Tauss) 67 „Der Vorteil ist natürlich, dass ich eine viel größere Kundengruppe ansprechen kann.“ (Tim
Brzoska)
53
Mr Brzoska wholeheartedly agrees with the hypothesis: “This is a huge
problem.”68 He is not alone, as Mr Guzmán agrees that “arbitrage and cannibalism
are always risks in these strategies” because, as Mr Tauss points out, “the
consumer has the same information”69. The problem of internet transparency
indeed seems to be higher knowledge for the consumer, which can lead to
arbitrage. As someone who has worked on various projects in his position as a
consultant, Mr Korany claims that arbitrage “is a huge problem in the
pharmaceutical industry.”70 Despite this example, his overall evaluation states that
he “[…] didn’t perceive the risk to be great.”71 One explanation Mr Korany offers
for his assessment is that “the price range between different countries becomes
smaller and prices become more and more similar.”72 With small price gaps,
arbitrage often does not make sense anymore, that’s why the theory also suggest
for companies facing arbitrage problems to keep price gaps small.
Apart from the notion that arbitrage can be a risk in some industries, the experts
were able to distinguish further disadvantages of internet transparency. Mr
Gönsch explains how “transparency can be a disadvantage because it puts prices
under pressure.”73 Similarly, Mrs van der Wal recognizes danger for prices as
transparency increases: “For a manufacturer anther disadvantage I see is price
erosion.” Apart from the price issues, another disadvantage revealed by Mr
Gönsch is the fact that “a company has a certain pressure for innovations.”74 Price
pressure is especially dangerous, as it could lead to price wars and downward
price spirals. Although pressure for innovations can also be disadvantageous,
innovations are one great way of differentiation and keeping a company away
from price pressure. Mr Weisshaar recommends „to react flexible and fast to
changes and use innovations to make prices matter less”75, basically agreeing to
the general threats of transparency and pointing out the importance of properly
reacting to them.
68 „Das ist ein Riesenproblem.” (Tim Brzoska) 69 „Eben, er hat die gleichen Informationen.“ (Werner Tauss) 70 „Das kriege ich immer als großes Problem der Pharmabranche.“ (Daniel Korany) 71 „Das habe ich gar nicht als stark wahrgenommen.“ (Daniel Korany) 72 „Preisspanne zwischen Ländern nimmt ab, Preise werden insgesamt ähnlicher.“ (Daniel Korany) 73 „Transparenz kann man aus als Nachteil sehen weil Preise unter Druck geraten.“ (Jochen
Gönsch) 74 „Ein Unternehmen hat auch einen gewissen Innovationsdruck.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 75 „Flexibler reagieren und rasch auf Änderungen einstellen, mit Innovationen punkten, dann wird
der Preis nur noch sekundär sein.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
54
This hypothesis has shown that there are indeed drawbacks to internet
transparency, especially the pressure on prices and the need to always find new
innovative ways to differentiate a company. The disadvantage of arbitrage should
be taken into account if the risks are unknown, since this could be a huge problem
for some industries, while for many others it might not be a huge issue. Since this
issue cannot be answered generally, every company should research their market
and know its strength and weaknesses.
For companies the advantages gained from increased transparency are more
substantial than the disadvantages.
Of course, after establishing the interviewees’ opinion on advantages and
disadvantages, their opinion on whether – despite all disadvantages – the positive
aspects prevail is questioned. Only two out of six answers approved that
advantages are greater than disadvantages. The rest of the experts somehow
approved but did not want to make an all-encompassing statement and provided
information that it most likely depended on the specific company and situation.
Primarily, Mr Weisshaar attests that, “transparency which shows value is a huge
advantage I can use.”76 Since it was established before, that price transparency
often comes with quality transparency, Mr Weisshaar seems to take this as one
way to use transparency in a company’s favour.
In a more neutral position, Mr Gönsch claims that this hypothesis “depends on the
company and industry.”77 Equally, Mrs van der Wal states that it “depends also if
you are manufacturer or supplier/reseller and where you are in the distribution
chain… it for sure is much more complex…” As mentioned, these differences in
industries and companies require a thorough analysis of the environment.
Although Mr Guzmán is not against the statement of the hypothesis, he also
knows that things can easily go wrong. He argues that “if you are careless with the
execution of the strategy and you don’t create barriers or controls to mitigate or
76 „Eine Transparenz, die Leistung verdeutlicht ist ein großer Vorteil, daraus kann ich was
machen.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 77 „Ich glaube das kommt auf das Unternehmen und die Branche an.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
55
decrease the arbitrage, the loss could be more than the gain.” All these opinions,
despite being so different, make a good point. Mr Gönsch has an example to
emphasize that even in the right industry, a company can do things wrong: “Do
you know the mail-order company Quelle? It’s not clear if it was just the internet,
but it did have an influence – for Quelle, the disadvantages outbalanced the
advantages although a mail-order company is predestined for the internet.”78
Summing up the results from the interview findings combined with the research, it
cannot be said whether or not advantages or disadvantages outweigh the other.
Many factors have influence on successfully using online channels. It’s obvious
that knowing the risks and preparing properly for online strategies is essential
business and even if all odds are in favour of a company, the wrong
implementation can easily lead to irreparable damages.
The internet has increased the risks and options of arbitrage.
Arbitrage has already been discussed as a topic when talking about the
disadvantages of technological advances. The already mixed results from those
hypotheses also shine through with this question. Out of all experts, six answered
the question to this hypothesis. Five agreed with the hypothesis that arbitrage
indeed increases, while one expert contradicted the statement. Since many
opinions on arbitrage have already been discussed before, the analysis of this
hypothesis will not repeat already established quotes.
Mr Brzoska has an explanation as to why arbitrage has increased: “The internet
makes it easier to order online. That’s why the risk of arbitrage is greater than in
the past.”79 With these increased risks, Mr Weisshaar claims that “yes, you need
to be able to determine whether supply and demand in the different markets are
changing and react appropriately.”80
78 „Kennen Sie das Versandhaus Quelle? Man weiß nicht ob es nur am Internet lag, aber es hatte
einen großen Einfluss – für Quelle haben die Nachteile die Vorteile überwogen obwohl ein
Versandhaus prädestiniert für das Internet wäre.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
79 „Das Internet macht es einfacher, Produkte im Ausland zu bestellen. Daher ist das Risiko
größer als in der Vergangenheit.“ (Tim Brzoska)
80 „Ja, deshalb flexibel auf dem Schirm haben wie sich Angebot und Nachfrage in den
verschiedenen Märkten verhält und dann reagieren.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
56
Mr Korany mentions an example, where arbitrage has proven to be a problem:
„Swiss automobile dealers buy cars in Germany because of the exchange rate,
even with customs it’s still cheaper.”81 Stating the complete opposite, Mr Sessler,
with his expertise from Mercedes Benz, has a different take on arbitrage when
talking about the automotive industry. “We have very different national customer
retention, which doesn’t make it easy to buy in other countries.”82 With just this
one example, the two experts show that they have made quite different
experiences with arbitrage in the same industry. This points out how arbitrage can
be a very individual problem for individual countries or companies.
With more information on arbitrage already disclosed in the hypothesis about
advantages of internet transparency, it can be emphasized that although a
company should know about the risks of arbitrage in their industry and for their
product, it is not something that should keep companies from pursuing differential
pricing.
For international PD, arbitrage costs are decreasing because of easier access to
markets, decreasing transportation costs and free trade zones.
Since the theory has pointed out that arbitrage costs strongly influence how much
arbitrage is possible, finding the determinants from an expert point of view can
help to further distinguish the topic. Out of six answers, two thirds were positive
affirmations, two gave no clear answer.
Starting off with the affirmation of the hypothesis, Mr Gönsch claims that “when
markets grow together, transportation costs often decrease.”83 Furthermore, he
also substantiates his opinion by saying that “it’s easier to order in Europe.”84
Having established that arbitrage can indeed still be a risk to some industries, the
experts also offer ways to circumvent the dangers of resale. Starting off, Mr
Guzmán believes that if companies want to avoid arbitrage, it is important “not to
81 „Schweizer Automobilhändler gehen wegen dem Wechselkurs gerne nach Deutschland um
Autos zu kaufen, auch mit Zoll ist es günstiger.“ (Daniel Korany)
82 „Wir haben sehr unterschiedliche nationale Kundenbindung, die es nicht einfach macht, in
anderen Ländern zu kaufen.“ (Wolfgang Sessler) 83 „Gerade wenn Märkte zusammenwachsen sinken häufig die Transportkosten.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 84 „In Europa ist es einfacher zu bestellen.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
57
create a price gap so big, that it would motivate arbitrage.” Additionally, Mr
Weisshaar sees potential in avoiding arbitrage by doing “a thorough segmentation
and set new price points.”85 He also believes it important to “focus on the target
group and pass on some customers who do not bring profits.”86 Finally, another
helpful advice from Mr Guzmán points out, that to avoid arbitrage, companies
have to “sell the same product in different markets, but with different brands that
have and strong local brand equity.”
Thanks to the interviewees, several practices to avoid arbitrage have come up and
can be used as a foundation for pricing strategies. These strategies are especially
important for the industry which discover problems with arbitrage. With these
recommendation on how to conquer the arbitrage problem, every company should
be able to decrease the risk by using one or more of these solutions.
Dynamic Pricing is considered an unfair pricing technique and will cause the
consumer to stray from the brand.
When it comes to a certain pricing strategy, it is always about whether or not the
consumer will accept this particular approach. Considering the unfairness of
dynamic pricing, the interviewees did not clearly agree on this hypothesis. Out of
the six interviewees who were asked this questions, one disagreed with the
hypothesis and the other five did not clearly state their opinion on the hypothesis,
but rather made it dependent on the circumstances and type of discrimination.
When asked about some famous examples of personalized dynamic pricing,
which did not succeed, Mr Gönsch knows that the most famous example of how
individual price discrimination can go wrong, was “10 or 15 years ago, Amazon
charged different people different prices. That was a huge scandal. For years,
nobody dared to approach the topic.”87 In the case of Amazon, Mr Gönsch
remembers how “[…] the assumption was, that regular customers have to pay
85 „Man muss Kunden immer mehr segmentieren und neue Preispunkte setzen.“ (Norbert
Weisshaar) 86 „Zielkundengerecht setzen und auf den ein oder anderen Kunden verzichten der keine Margen
mehr nennt.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 87 „Es gab mal vor 10-15 Jahren als Amazon unterschiedlichen Deutschen unterschiedliche Preise
angeboten hat. Das war ein Riesenskandal und 10 Jahre hat sich niemand mehr an dieses Thema
ran getraut.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
58
higher prices than first-time customers. Something like that is easily seen as
unfair.”88 As indicated, the way of personal discrimination was not taken lightly
and negatively influenced all strategies related to personalize pricing for many
years. Mr Brzoska also remembers an example of how dynamic pricing can go
wrong: „There was a soda machine, where the price was regulated by the outdoor
temperature. The hotter the weather, the more expensive the beverages. That was
not popular.”89 Again, this example shows that differentiating on such
circumstances can have the opposite effect of the desired outcome.
To collect the general problems with dynamic pricing mechanisms, Mr Brzoska
knows that there are specific problems when discriminating on personal
characteristics: “If I get price differentiated because of personal characteristics,
whether or not I use an iPad or another type of tablet, I would be unhappy.”90
Mentioning another aspect, Mr Gönsch argues that „if you use a segment-oriented
differentiation […] I think that can be considered unfair.”91 Mr Gönsch already
offers a preferable alternative, stating that “[…] when consumers can select
themselves, it works better.”92 In theory, this self-selection has also shown to be
the most accepted method of differentiation.
Moving from the general view to some detailed aspects, Mr Brzoska explains that
there are differences between channels: “On the internet, it can happened that
prices are different in the morning and in the evening. It doesn’t feel unfair
because you know it’s dynamic.”93 In this case, temporal dynamic pricing on the
internet has become known and consumers have adapted this as a familiar
occurrence. Mr Guzmán claims that the fairness concept depends of which
consumer segment is buying the product since “perception of value could change
88 „Man konnte da auch nichts dagegen machen und die Vermutung war, dass Stammkunden
teurere Preise kriegen als Erstkunden und sowas wird schnell als unfair gesehen.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
89 „Es gab mal Getränkeautomaten, bei denen war die Preissteuerung über die Außentemperatur
gesteuert. Je wärmer es wurde, desto teurer wurden die Getränke. Das kam nicht gut an.“ (Tim
Brzoska)
90 „Wenn man aufgrund persönlicher Eigenschaften, zum Beispiel ob ich ein iPad oder ein
anderes Tablet benutze, im Preis differenziert wäre, dann wäre ich zickig.“ (Tim Brzoska) 91 „Wenn man eine segmentorientierte Preisdifferenzierung hat und Kunden auf Grund
Eigenschaften einordnet, Seniorenrabatt und sowas, das glaube ich kann als unfair empfunden
werden.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
92 „Wenn man dagegen Preisdifferenzierung hat, die nicht auf Segmenten ansetzt sondern wo die
Kunden sich selbst einordnen, ist es besser.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 93 „Im Internet kann es schon mal passieren dass morgens und abends die Preise unterschiedlich
sind. Das wirkt nicht so unfair, denn man ist gewohnt, dass es dynamisch ist.“ (Tim Brzoska)
59
from one day to another in the same segment”, states Mr Guzmán.
He also explains how “the main goal of dynamic pricing is the same as revenue
management; to take out more value from the market, but if you don’t identify the
variables that can trigger the different behaviour and value from the market, you
might decrease the revenue or the profits of a company.” Mr Guzmán understands
the risks of a dynamic pricing strategy and how important it is to understand all
factors.
While it has become clear that there is much to do wrong with dynamic pricing
strategies, there are also experts, who do not see this as a problem. As the one
expert, who clearly disapproved of the hypothesis, Mr Weisshaar does not believe
that “the consumer even realizes it.”94 Mr Tauss is not convinced by the
hypothesis either: “From my experiences with the airline and cruise ship industry
I know that dynamic pricing is not used regularly yet. I wouldn’t know that this
already exists in detail. People don’t know why you charge different prices
because it’s not expensive to do it right.”95 The scepticism relies on the fact that
the consumer does not understand the price system. With increased transparency
and interaction between customers, it is not wise to rely on the fact that people
might not understand the price because if they find out that there has been an
unjustified pricing mechanism in place who differentiated in a way, which is not
accepted, the potential backlash could be huge.
In order to avoid such a situation, the experts make aware of what you should do.
As Mr Brzoska points out, it is most important to be able to give a satisfactory
explanation of prices: “If you don’t have an explanation, it is bad.”96 This has
already been strongly discussed in the hypothesis on transparency and its
influence on fairness and willingness to pay. Additionally, Mr Gönsch expresses
that “as a company you have to change the products.”97 By changing products,
changes in price can be explained and justified.
94 „Nein glaube ich nicht, da der Konsument es gar nicht mitbekommt.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
95 „Aus eigener Erfahrung mit den Branchen mit denen ich arbeite (Kreuzfahrten, Luftfahrt), wird
das noch nicht sonderlich genutzt. Ich wüsste nicht, dass es das bereits in großem Detailgrad gibt.
Warum verschiedene Preis verlangt werden, das weiß man ja nicht. denn es kostet ja nicht viel, das
richtig zu machen.“ (Werner Tauss) 96 „Wenn es dann keine Erklärung gibt, dann ist es schlecht.“ (Tim Brzoska) 97 „Da muss man dann als Unternehmen die Produkte verändern.“ (Jochen Gönsch)
60
This introductory hypothesis on dynamic pricing ought to bring together the
topics of fairness which have already been discussed in a general setting and
combining them with the specifics of dynamic pricing. It is interesting to see how
such a pricing strategy affects fairness and that it all comes down to explanation
of prices. In the end, the overall learning shows that as long as you can explain the
prices successfully to the customer, a pricing mechanism can work, no matter
what it is. The following hypotheses will aim at bringing more information on
how dynamic pricing works and what opportunities exist which have so far not
been utilized.
Price differentiation and dynamic pricing are more accepted with perishable goods
compared to non-perishable categories.
In order to determine the possibilities of dynamic pricing strategies, it is important
to align the expertise of the theoretical research with the one of the pricing
experts. All eight experts answered this questions and they all agreed with the
hypothesis, although, as it will be shown, this does not mean that price
differentiation and especially dynamic pricing are not possible or desirable for
non-perishable goods.
When talking about when and why dynamic pricing is successful, Mr Gönsch
knows that it works “because people get used to it with time.”98 Mr Guzmán
agrees and adds that “human beings like habits, and habits and patterns are
difficult to modify, but not impossible”. He shows his optimism, that certain
pricing strategies can be taught to be accepted as long as they are made into
habits. Mr Weisshaar adds another component to the acceptance of dynamic
pricing with perishable goods. He states that dynamic pricing with these products
works “because you can argue logically.”99 In this case, it is not about teaching
the consumer to accept a certain strategy, but to argue logically why prices are
different by appealing to human reasoning.
98 „Ich glaube es liegt daran, dass sich die Leute daran gewöhnen mit der Zeit.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 99 „Man kann es inhaltlich argumentieren.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
61
While it has become clear how dynamic pricing can be accepted, there are certain
things, for which acceptance has already been established. Mr Brzoska considers
limited capacity to be one great factor to explain changing prices, since “the
consumer understands that scarce products get more expensive. It’s easy to
explain. The consumer understands certain mechanisms.”100 Indeed this seems to
hold true, as Mr Korany also thinks that “capacities are an important factor”.101 In
addition to that, Mr Brzoska adds another type of product for which dynamic
pricing supposedly works: “Definitely works with scarcity. It also works with
products with high fix costs and low variable costs.”102 Apart from that, Mr Tauss
also knows in which purchase situation dynamic pricing might work. For him it’s
all about timing: “Yes. If it doesn’t matter whether I buy a product today or next
week, dynamic pricing won’t work.”103
All these characteristics are most likely to exist with perishable products. Mr
Gönsch does in fact not see the possibilities with non-perishable goods: „When
Amazon shows you an expensive price, you will feel discriminated.”104
On the other hand, this is not the only opinion on the matter and Mr Guzmán does
not think that dynamic pricing is solely possible for perishable goods and claims
that for them “dynamic pricing could be better, but is not a rule.” Although
dynamic pricing might be better to explain for perishable products or products
with limited capacity, it all depends on what to explain to the consumer.
One idea how dynamic pricing could be used for a product, which does not have
the ideal characteristics for this type of strategy, was named by Mr Korany: „With
perfume you can differentiate with loyalty systems. You can use a membership,
where you can pay 100 Euros per year and you receive twenty percent discount on
every perfume bought, similar to what the ‘Deutsche Bahn’ is doing.”105 This
100 „Aus Konsumentensicht versteht jeder, dass bei Knappheit ein Produkt teurer wird. Das kann
man erklären. Bestimmte Mechanismen sind vom Konsumenten erlernt.“ (Tim Brzoska) 101 „Kapazitäten spielen dabei einen wichtigen Faktor.“ (Daniel Korany) 102 „Auf jeden Fall bei Knappheit. Das funktioniert aber auch bei Produkten mit hohen Fixkosten
und geringen Variablen Kosten.“ (Tim Brzoska) 103„Ja. Wenn ich ein Produkt sehe bei dem es egal ist ob ich es heute kaufe oder nächste Woche,
dann funktioniert das nicht.” (Werner Tauss) 104 „Wenn Ihnen Amazon den teureren Preis anzeigt, dann fühlt man sich schnell diskriminiert.“
(Jochen Gönsch)
105 „Bei Parfüms kann man auch differenzieren mit einem Treuesystem. Man kann eine
Mitgliedschaft einführen. Man zahlt 100 Euro im Jahr und bekommt 20% Rabatt auf jedes Parfüm,
ähnlich wie bei der Deutschen Bahn.“ (Daniel Korany)
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example shows that although it might have to be packaged differently, doesn’t
mean that you can’t charge different prices for non-perishable goods.
In the end, Mr Gönsch gives a great indication as to why it makes sense to
consider dynamic pricing for a company, because “compared to static pricing, a
company which uses dynamic pricing successfully gets higher profits and has
good chances of utilizing maximum capacity.”106
To conclude this hypothesis, it can be said that there are generally more ways to
explain to the consumer that persishable goods and services are dynamically
priced. Some habits and pricing mechanisms have been learned and accepted and
can be used without any implications. At the same time, when it is possible to
explain dynamic pricing logically, the consumer should not feel treated unfairly. It
is therefore up to the company itself to distinguish their pricing strategy and
communicate how that strategy works.
Dynamic pricing can only be realized on the internet as costs of implementation
are too high in offline channels.
This hypothesis tries to determine the possibilities of dynamic pricing strategies
for companies and whether it would make sense to use such a strategy offline. Out
of seven answers, three were affirmative, three denying and one neutral, showing
that the interviewees had several points for and against this statement.
First of all, the experts should give an indication to what degree this hypothesis
holds true. Mr Tauss expands the criteria why dynamic pricing works better
online beyond the cost factor: “It’s about the costs, but it‘s also about speed.”107
He indicates that there are several aspects to consider which could be quite
difficult for offline channels. When talking about the actual costs for the
implementation of dynamic pricing strategies, Mr Gönsch points out, that it “[…]
depends how often you change prices.”108 Mr Guzmán also apprehends that the”
106 „Gegenüber statischem pricing hat das Unternehmen, das sinnvoll dynamic pricing einsetzt
einen höheren Erlös und es hat häufig bessere Chancen seine Kapazität vollständig auszulasten.“
(Jochen Gönsch) 107 Es sind einmal die Kosten und zum anderen die Geschwindigkeit.“ (Werner Tauss) 108 „Es kommt drauf an wie Sie das dynamic pricing machen und wie oft man die Preise ändert.“
(Jochen Gönsch)
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costs related with implementation in offline channels could overshadow the
benefits of it.” Clearly there are more costs associated with offline channels. But
this does, according to Mr Korany, not exclude offline channels from using
dynamic pricing strategies: “Offline is always more expensive but offline auctions
by airlines are managed through software, to avoid additional costs.”109 Since
there might be ways to use both types of channels, the interviewees have some
input about how to do that.
When asked about the challenges of implementing such a strategy, Mr Tauss
knows the important thing about implementing this type of pricing: “If I don’t
know what the customer wants or the competitors do, I can lose money really fast.
The willingness to pay is very important. You have to concentrate in
communicating the strengths and advantages of the brand.”110 As another
important thing to consider before implementation, Mr Korany adds “It’s
important to associate feelings of unfairness with something positive. You can tie
it to a product upgrade or to promotions.”111 Obviously, again it’s about offering
value to the customer and making him understand where the price is coming from.
On the question whether the experts would recommend dynamic pricing to
companies, Mr Weisshaar confirmed that „if product portfolio and industry allow
it. Dynamic pricing has always existed – just slower. With the internet, price
changes are faster and more precise.”112 As indicated, if the circumstances allow
for it, companies should pursue dynamic pricing.
Although dynamic pricing seems to be viable for both channels, it is clearly more
costly offline. Additionally, the possibilities in online channels are greater because
companies are more flexible to react to changes and have more technology to help
in the implementation of these pricing strategies. Still, for some companies, using
109 „Offline immer teurer, aber bei dem Beispiel der Fluggesellschafts Auktionen wird das auch
durch Software geregelt, dass keine Mehrkosten entstehen.“ (Daniel Korany) 110 „Wenn ich nicht weiß was der Kunde will oder der Wettbewerber macht, dann kann ich schnell
Geld verlieren. Die Zahlungsbereitschaft der Kunden zu kennen ist sehr wichtig. Man muss sich
darauf konzentrieren, die Stärke und Vorteile der Marke zu kommunizieren.“ (Werner Tauss) 111 „Dann ist auch wichtig, unfaire Gefühle mit etwas angenehmem zu verbinden. Man kann ein
Produkt Upgrade machen, es könnte mit Promotions verknüpft werden.“ (Daniel Korany) 112 „Ja wenn es das Produktportfolio und die Branche zulassen; Dynamic Pricing wird schon
immer gemacht, nur langsamer; jetzt eben besser durchs Internet, Preise wurden schon immer
justiert, heute schneller und präziser.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
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offline channels can make just as much sense, especially if they are offline
retailers only.
Name-your-own-price transactions are the easiest way to capture the consumers’
willingness to pay.
One very specific dynamic pricing strategy is the reverse auction, which has been
described in detail in the theoretical part of this thesis. As one specific type of
reverse auctions, the NYOP model has been chosen to focus on in the expert
interviews and the results will be discussed accordingly. The opinions on this
hypothesis varied, since out of the seven answers, two denied the hypothesis, one
stays neutral without clear position and four approved of the assumption.
The supporters of the statement, such as Mr Guzmán, consider NYOP transaction
to have potential: “If you remove the brand equity factor… yes, because it will
only measure the price sensitivity towards the product.” Likewise, Mr Tauss
endorses the hypothesis: “One of many ways to determine willingness to pay. If
there is transparency and customers realize a difference in prices, they will not
feel treated unfairly because they have determined the price themselves.”113 At
first glance, this type of strategy seems to be a great way to capture willingness to
pay.
Some of the experts are not fully convinced though. Mr Korany, while not
completely dismissing NYOP strategies, offers alternatives: „It’s a good but not
ideal mechanism. Yield Management is better to skim profits.”114 Meanwhile, Mr
Weisshaar thinks that “it depends on the consumer to show ambition to bid. Do I
want to afford the product or not? NYOP is only one part of pricing, with certain
product groups.”115 He indicates that this only works for some product groups,
similar to what the overall opinion was on the applicability of dynamic pricing to
113„ Eine von vielen Varianten, wie man eine Preisbereitschaft ermitteln kann. Wenn Transparenz
herrscht und Kunden die Unterschiede in den Preisen finden, dann gibt es keinen Ärger, weil der
Konsument den Preis selbst bestimmt und sich nicht beschweren kann.“ (Werner Tauss) 114 „Guter aber kein optimaler Mechanismus, Yield Management ist besser um Profite
abzuschöpfen.“ (Daniel Korany) 115 „Hier kommt es auf die Bereitschaft des Konsumenten an, sportlicher Ehrgeiz des Mitbietens.
Will ich mir das Produkt leisten oder nicht? NYOP nur als Teil der gesamten Preispolitik, nur mit
bestimmten Produktgruppen.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
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perishable or non-perishable goods. When going more into detail on whether this
is a good pricing strategy or not, Mr Gönsch critically argues that “if it was such a
great way, it would have more significance.”116 While Mr Gönsch does not go
into more detail, Mr Brzoska has an idea on why it is not such a good system. He
believes that „it doesn’t work without peer pressure and a clear cost structure.”117
He also knows that there is one specific problem with this pricing strategy: “The
consumer has too few price anchors.”118 According to his statement, without an
indication of the value of a product, an auction bid does not come easy.
To conclude, the interview experts have varying opinions on the usefulness of
NYOP models, which shows that although it has proven successful for its
inventors, this type of dynamic pricing strategy also has its weaknesses, which
should be considered before implementing such a strategy.
NYOP is successful because the consumer determines the price himself and
therefore feels a higher sense of fairness.
In the case of Priceline, the research showed that the NYOP strategy works rather
well. This hypothesis was used to find out whether the interviewees agree and
whether they attribute this to psychological factors. Out of the six answers to this
statement, four clearly agreed with the idea of the hypothesis, while two
positioned themselves vaguely.
First of all, thinking about the advantages of a NYOP strategy, Mr Tauss believes
that NYOP offers advantages to all parties. He says that „it has several
components. As a company you learn about willingness to pay. As a consumer
you feel fairness, because you have made a deliberate choice.”119 Mr Weisschuh
agrees and states „Yes, it is a good feeling but in the end, nobody gives away
116 „Ich glaube, wenn das so ein super Weg wäre hätte es eine größere Bedeutung.“ (Jochen
Gönsch) 117 „Ohne Peer Pressure und ein klares Bild zur Kostensituation funktioniert es nicht.“ (Tim
Brzoska) 118 „Die Leute haben zu wenige Preisanker.“ (Tim Brzoska) 119 „Ja und das hat verschiedene Komponente. Ich als Unternehmen lerne die Preisbereitschaft aber
das andere ist die Fairness, denn als Kunde hat man sich bewusst entschieden.“ (Werner Tauss)
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anything.”120 Though the use of a NYOP strategy can bring advantages to both
parties, it is still about making the best deal possible for both sides.
Although Mr Korany generally agrees with the hypothesis, he points out that „it
doesn’t work with necessities. If you have to fly from A to B on a business trip,
you will pay a high price. But you won’t need a business class ticket.” 121 It makes
sense to point out these weaknesses of such a strategy. Obviously, as discussed
before, for some situations the general rules don’t apply. So far, the interviewees
have seen potential for all the situations, in which it is about leisure and
enjoyment, without the strict restrictions of a need behind it.
As a matter of fact, Mr Gönsch seems to have found another potential obstacle
which he imagines for the NYOP strategy: “You might still be unsatisfied,
because you might think you could have paid even less.”122 Obviously, without
any indication to the value of a purchase, it is difficult to estimate if the successful
deal was a preferable deal or not. Mr Gönsch offers another argument to add to
this line of thought: “maybe the consumer considers it complicated to think about
the price.”123 When reference prices are not clear, a decision making process
could take up a lot of time and become less desirable. But there are also options to
improve this kind of situation.
In this context, when considering pricing psychology, Mr Korany knows how to
influence the consumer using anchors: „The impact of anchors is irrational. With
overall higher numbers, the consumer will automatically chose a higher
number.”124 If this holds true in all cases, it could make sense to offer price
anchors in order to push higher prices, although this could also easily be
considered manipulative. Anchors would help companies to achieve profit goals,
but they might not be a trustworthy source for customer. Still, offering anchors as
orientation could help to simplify the process of reverse auctions. As another
120 „Ja, es gibt ein gutes Gefühl aber letztendlich verschenkt niemand was.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 121„ Ja, aber es klappt nicht wenn eine Notwendigkeit besteht, z.B. muss man von A nach B fliegen
aber Business Class braucht man nicht.“ (Daniel Korany) 122 „Bei diesem NYOP, wenn ich vielleicht einen Preis gezahlt habe, der niedriger ist als
woanders, bin ich vielleicht immer noch unzufrieden, weil man sich denkt, man hätte noch
weniger bezahlen können.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 123 „Weil der Kunde es vielleicht auch als kompliziert empfindet, sich den Preis zu überlegen.“
(Jochen Gönsch) 124 „Ankerwirkung ist irrational, bei höheren Zahlen wird automatisch auch eine höhere Zahl
genannt.“ (Daniel Korany)
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effect auctions can have on the consumer, Mr Gönsch mentions one interesting
example: „There is a phenomenon on Ebay, where a lot of things are sold more
expensively than with price comparison searches because once consumers start
bidding they want to win the auction and get the product.”125 Although this does
not work for reverse auctions, it proves that bidding includes involvement, maybe
because it gives the consumer the feeling of already owning something, even
before it is officially bought. Using such psychological phenomena could offer
potential in this area of pricing.
To conclude, the pricing experts have demonstrated ways why NYOP strategies
work and how they could be advantageous. At the same time, they name
limitations for this strategy and possible ways to overcome them by leading the
customer in the right direction. In the end, the success can be attributed to the
power the customer has but that this might also be the greatest challenge.
Most consumers don’t take advantage of price differentiation in the form or
coupons.
The final hypothesis surrounds the topic of coupons as a measure of second-
degree price discrimination. In this case, not one of the seven answers was
positive, with four being neutral and three saying no to the question. During the
interviews, it became clear that this type of question couldn’t be answered
affirmatively as it asked about a topic where most of the experts had no deeper
knowledge and therefore did not want to approve solely based on their personal
experience. At the same time, most interviewees shared that they themselves were
not using coupons on a regular basis.
Even without being able to tell details, Mr Weisshaar said that “there was once a
big hype.”126 As part of this hype, due to the vast amount of coupons Mr Korany
points out that “the effect of coupons disappears really fast.”127 Corresponding
with that comment, Mr Brzoska, out of experience, states that coupons have “low
125 „Es gibt auch bei Ebay das Phänomen, dass viele Sachen teurer verkauft werden als über eine
Preissuchmaschine, weil wenn die Leute mal mitsteigern, dann wollen die Leuten auch die
Auktion gewinnen und das Produkt haben.“ (Jochen Gönsch) 126 „Es gab mal einen großen Hype.“ (Norbert Weisshaar) 127 „Effekt von Coupons verpufft ziemlich schnell.“ (Daniel Korany)
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redemption rates, which does not mean people do not use it. Sometimes you are
simply overwhelmed by coupons.”128 With the sheer amount of coupons on the
market, consumers might just lose focus. In order to improve the use of coupons,
Mr Guzmán claims that “many companies have created mechanisms to make
coupon redemption a little higher, but sometimes that causes consumers that were
willing to pay full price, to receive a discount even if they didn’t want it.” Of
course, while higher redemption is a wanted effect, coupons should ideally only
benefit those customers, who were highly price sensitive, the ones who would not
have bought the product without a coupon.
On the other hand, coupons can also have the opposite effect of people buying
things they wouldn’t actually need. Mr Tauss knows that “There are not many
products or services, for which there is no coupon. There are people who make a
sport out of it.”129 And he adds that this might even lead to a situation where „the
consumer buys things he doesn’t need, but because he had a coupon for it.”130
When discussing which type of consumer would behave in such a pattern, Mr
Guzmán claims that the “consumers with high price sensitivity are more willing to
use them.” It makes sense that consumer who are very price sensitive would
invest more time and efforts into getting a better price. Mr Korany also points out,
that there could be one other type of situation, which increases the usage of
coupons: „To overcome the system is more motivation than the actual monetary
savings.”131
After discovering how coupons are used and that there is a real overflow of
coupons in the market, it makes sense for Mr Korany to say that “it’s a problem
because coupons hurt the image and you don’t make good business but destroy
brand value.”132 Of course this makes sense when talking about all those
customers, who do no longer buy without a coupon and who learn to wait in order
to take advantage of a better price. Therefore it might be harmful to give coupons
128 „Sehr geringe Einlösquoten. Das muss nicht allgemein heißen, dass wenig genutzt wird, man
wird oft einfach überschüttet.“ (Tim Brzoska) 129 „Man wird zugeschüttet und es gibt kaum etwas, bei dem es keinen Coupon gibt. Es gibt Leute,
die machen einen Sport daraus.” (Werner Tauss) 130 „Er kauft auch Dinge, die er nicht braucht, aber er hatte einen Coupon dafür.“ (Werner Tauss) 131 „Das System überführt zu haben ist größerer Antrieb als tatsächliche Kostenersparnis.“ (Daniel
Korany) 132 „Eher problematisch da Coupons für ein Ramsch-Image sorgen, man macht weniger
Schnäppchen sondern zerstört eher an Wert.“ (Daniel Korany)
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to everyone. As researched throughout the theoretical part, dynamic coupons can
be targeted according to past purchase behaviour in a way which can be less
harmful towards the brand. When considering whether dynamic coupons would
be a better alternative, Mr Brzoska confirms: “Yes, absolutely. Dynamic coupons
help to address the needs of the customer.”133 Similarly, Mr Weisshaar supports
“dynamic coupons are generally better than normal ones.”134
Clearly there is potential for coupons when they are personalised, because while
posted prices stay the same and appear to be the same to everyone, coupons can
change these prices and skim different customers with their different willingness
to pay. If a company wants to try coupons, they should always do it dynamically
in order to protect their brand.
133 „Ja absolut. Damit kann man die Bedürfnisse des Kunden besser ansprechen.“ (Tim Brzoska) 134 „Dynamische Coupons sind grundsätzlich besser als normale Coupons.“ (Norbert Weisshaar)
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12 Conclusions
The interviews have shown that the existing research already covers most of the
issues and challenges of the hypotheses. In the end, the greatest learning is that
there is not one universal solution and answer to pricing topics. Indeed, as with
many business decisions, it all depends on the industry, the company and the
product in question. Generally, there are many opportunities and challenges in
online channels, especially with increased transparency for consumers. Prices
have become an important purchase factor and they are easily compared.
Therefore, companies need to explain prices and add value to their products or
services to be noticed. This influences how prices are perceived and how much
customers are willing to pay. Although this transparency can be a threat, it can
also be turned into an opportunity by using the transparency to communicate
advantages. The interviews have also confirmed that fairness and trust are indeed
important concepts for pricing strategies and companies should know their value
and always act with the consumer in mind. While for many companies the
advantages of increased transparency can be greater than disadvantages, it mostly
depends on how communication with consumers works and whether the consumer
finds positive reinforcement for the brand online or whether he find out about
some unfairness or manipulation. A great danger of online transparency is
pressure of prices which is a result of consumers being able to easily compare
prices online. This price pressure might be avoided by being flexible, investing in
innovations and improving brand value in order to justify a certain price level.
The conclusions for the topic of dynamic pricing is that generally, dynamic
pricing has been accepted for certain industries, where capacities are limited and
perishable. The experts agree that it works better for these goods and services, but
that it is generally a thing of explanation. If a company is able to properly explain
a pricing strategy in a way that can be accepted by the consumer, dynamic pricing
is possible. That also goes for the differences in channels. There are more
possibilities online, but offline channels can use dynamic pricing as well, even if
they might not be able to change prices as fast and flexible as it is possible online.
Generally, this indicates that dynamic pricing is potentially possible for every type
of product as long as these conditions are fulfilled. With NYOP as one focus of
dynamic pricing strategies, the experts were more sceptical. Although a reverse
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auction works in certain settings, it is again very much depening on the situation
and the product. The positive thing is that it catches willingness to pay, but the
interviews have also demonstrated that there might be more potential with
strategies where the consumer gets incentives to choose a profitable price,
possibily by using anchors or other psychological price points.
The success of coupons is doubted, as they do more harm than good to a brand.
Dynamic coupons on the other hand could be a much better way to target price
sensitive customers without losing surplus on those who are willing to pay full
price.
The learnings from this thesis have nicely complemented the theoretical part.
These learnigns will now be part of the upcoming recommendations for action,
which will also include outside knowledge on marketing and pricing and combine
these two fields in order to give indicators for companies on how pricing should
be done.
13 Limitations
As in any empirical analysis, the research also has its limitations. In case of the
expert interviews, several limitations could be noted.
First of all, there were only eight interviews in total with very different opinions,
which already shows that there is much to be discussed about the topic and that
interviewing eight experts is not representative enough to draw definite
conclusions. By conducting more interviews, it could have been possible to find
more opinions, but also to find an inclination towards one line of thought.
Secondly, while all experts worked in the field of pricing, there was not much
specialized knowledge to this relatively modern pricing strategy. This made it
difficult to find convincing statements. With more resources it might have been
possible to talk directly to some of the pricing experts who specialize in this field
but due to their busy schedules they did not replay or were generally not available
for an unpaid interview.
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Lastly, after already conducting several interviews, it came to attention that the
questions were sometimes too complex or specific and not easy to understand.
This sometimes required more explanation for the question and caused the
interviewees to be less sure about their answers. By doing a focused test-run
before starting with the interviews and reviewing each question on its complexity
and applicability could avoid such problems for future reference.
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14 Recommendations for actions
The findings from research, the discussion of the interviews and other background
marketing knowledge will be used to put forth the following recommendations for
actions any company should consider when facing their pricing strategy. In order
for companies to stay competitive, pricing has to be taken seriously and time and
money should be invested in order to find the perfect strategy for a firm’s
portfolio. While many companies still neglect the effects of doing the wrong
pricing strategy, other have invested resources and have been able to transform
their business to the better.
The organisation of pricing
In many cases, the prices are determined by the controlling department of a
company. Since they have a very analytical background with the exact
calculations of production costs and profit margins, they seem to be the logical
choice for many companies. With marketing knowledge and the indications from
this thesis and other research, the only logical result is to have pricing experts in
the marketing department, who create the price with their knowledge on consumer
psychology and value creation. Although controlling should be closely involved
in the calculation of profits and give their agreement, the creation of price
strategies and their implementation should be left to the marketing department,
simply because they understand the consumer best and in today’s globalised
world, pricing focused on the consumer is a necessity. Therefore it would be a
great idea to build a pricing team, which comes from both the marketing and
controlling background and is hierarchically beneath the marketing department.
This way, value pricing and ideal strategies which combine both pricing and other
marketing aspects would build a strong brand and increase consistency. Most
importantly, the executive level has to understand and support the importance of
such an expert pricing department and ideally, even push forward into new pricing
possibilities. This way, pricing strategies which are customized for the company,
product or service and the target groups can be created.
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Profit Growth
One of the main goals of companies is to improve profits. There are generally two
ways to do that. Either a company cuts costs or they increase prices. Cutting costs
can be the less transparent strategy, but it can also lead to lower quality or other
unwanted social consequences such as a large number of employee resignations.
A company should closely monitor the usefulness of cutting costs, because it
normally always comes with a price, be it the brand image, the company
reputation or product quality. With the increase of value pricing strategies, many
have understood that it makes much more sense to do top line growth.
Instead of trying to achieve certain volume targets and cutting the price in the
process, profit targets help to have sustainable growth. It also helps to strengthen
the brand instead of risking brand equity by decreasing prices to a level they can’t
come back from. Increasing brand value drives pricing power and studies have
shown that companies should focus on innovations and marketing as a unit to
improve the value of a brand. Therefore pricing has more than just influence on
profits, it also strongly drives brand value and image of a company.
With the matter of innovations, there should be a development team constantly
working on new product ideas and innovations. These innovations should then be
checked against their profitability and acceptance in the market and unprofitable
ideas should be cut by the department itself. Most importantly, the innovation
should be based on some need or benefit for the target group. Many companies
just focus on their internal ideas and inspirations without knowing anything about
what the consumer might think about it. Innovation is key, but only when it
focuses on the customer.
Creating a new pricing plan
The following steps show how a company can find out if their ideal pricing
strategy lies within the possibilities of dynamic pricing, price differentiation or
other value pricing strategies. These steps should all take place in a pricing
strategy to ensure optimized success.
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Objective
The final step of building a better pricing strategy is the analysis of success.
Without tracking the results of a new pricing strategy, a company will not know if
they are on the right track. Accordingly, the first step has to set the goals and
measurements for the upcoming strategy. Then, using key performance indicators
to track established goals, the consequences of new pricing techniques should be
closely monitored. These goals and KPIs are directly linked to the pricing strategy
established in the process. While there are general KPIs, others have to be
specifically matched to the needs and characteristics of the individual situation.
Obviously, since dynamic pricing and price differentiation in general aim at
improving profits, a higher profit goal could be measures by using KPI’s such as
daily sales, average price, average profit margins, online conversion rates and
others. For e-commerce, tracking an increased conversion rate could use the
shopping cart abandonment rate, click-through rates, website traffic and bounce
rates. These can be easily tracked with tools such as Google analytics.
Tracking the success of dynamic coupons online also works accurately. When the
goal is to increase the retention rate of coupons, it is easy to measure the average
retention rate, the type of product or service for which the coupon is used and the
average amount spend on the purchase.
If coupons are distributed by multiple online channels, a company should go as far
as to implement individual tracking links into the different websites in order to be
able to determine where the consumer began his journey and where he found the
coupons. This being said, performance reports are important for all areas of
marketing and should be used to gather further insights on the customer journey
and behaviour. This way, future strategies can benefit from the findings.
Market Research
Company, customer, competitor. At the beginning of all marketing strategies is
the analysis of the internal and external environment. The theory and expert
interviews have shown that it is always most important to know how the
consumer thinks and acts. This also holds true for pricing strategies. One part of
this process is to know the consumers preferences and especially their willingness
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to pay. Thorough market research needs to establish customer profiles and
characteristics, price sensitivities and the true value of a product or service from
the customers’ point of view. Only then can marketers use segmentation to target
specific customer groups with pricing strategies and promotions. As theory has
indicated, knowing the reference prices and therefore being able to influence them
through techniques like anchors or fencing will ultimately make a pricing strategy
work. For reference prices, quantitative marketing research could deliver average
price expectations and value perceptions, while new pricing strategies could be
tested in qualitative settings such as focus groups or mystery shopping to
determine whether the explanation of prices is properly mediated.
But even if marketing research has been successfully conducted it is very
important to continuously validate these results in order to find changes in trends,
consumer behaviour or value perception. There is no clear timeline on how often
market research should be conducted, as it often depends on the type of product
and its life-cycle. For electronics, trends and consumer price sensitivities change
more rapidly than for products with less innovative changes and longer life-
cycles. Still, even for less innovative products, pricing can offer many ways of
generating profits and research should be considered of utmost priority. Therefore
marketing research is always a good investment and builds the foundation of any
successful marketing or pricing strategy.
This also goes for market research focused on innovations. Only when companies
understand what the consumer wants and needs do they have a chance to bring
value to the consumer and find a unique selling proposition.
Segmentation
Segmentation is not only important for marketing in general, but especially to
create segments with different price sensitivities and therefore being able to
charge different prices. The smaller these segments, the more consumer surplus
can be absorbed and the more profitable a business becomes. Although micro
segmentation appears quite lucrative, it is also very costly and requires a lot of
effort. Still, by calculating the additional benefits and costs of micro segmentation
and finding the ideal degree of segmentation, companies can assure they are using
the most profitable strategy for their products. These segments will also later be
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used to target promotions and other marketing measures. If a company wants to
implement price differentiation for segments, then market research with focus on
willingness to pay is most important to do the segmentation.
Unique selling proposition
Another important aspect, not only for pricing but also for marketing in general, is
the unique selling proposition of a product. A USP helps to differentiate a product
and adds to the value story, which in turn helps to justify price strategies. For
some products, the USP could be a characteristic of the product, a technological
advantages, a design or brand value or part of customer service. For a company to
improve their success and stay competitive, it is essential to understand the value
of ones’ product and advocate it against competitors. While the USP can be used
for promotions and in communications, it also helps to convey price strategies. At
this point of the price strategy process, a company needs to determine their USP
and build their strategies around it.
Transparency strategy
Going back to the online area of pricing, the theory has shown that transparency is
a double-edged sword, which can deeply influence not only the fairness
perceptions of price, but also the overall relationship between the consumer and
the company. Researchers have shown that companies should pursue certain
transparency strategies to overcome the problems of transparency and stimulate a
positive customer response. At the same time, companies should stay truthful,
since negative backlash can easily arise from deception and manipulation
attempts. Here, pricing and branding have to be considered together. By
increasing the goodwill of a company and therefore creating a positive and
trustworthy image, the consumer is less likely to doubt a company’s intention and
complain about their prices. In order to create such a relationship, companies have
to be aware of the needs of the consumer and make it their goal to satisfy those
needs. Goodwill also closely connects with transparency, because being open with
customers builds a strong relationship of trust. A company should also be
consistent in order to improve the relationship to the customer. Delivering a clear
message and a consistent brand and attitude increases reliability. In the end, it’s
also about having satisfied customers, because if the customer is happy with a
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company, in the end he will be more willing to invest to keep such the
relationship. Therefore transparency about prices and quality, as seen in theory
and in the empirical analysis have indeed a strong influence on customers.
Therefore companies should at least question if their current standing on
transparency is enough to stimulate customer trust.
Pricing strategy
Finally it’s all about how the pricing should be made in the future. The learnings
from this thesis can help to establish certain possibilities in price discrimination
and dynamic pricing. If all prior steps of this model were successfully handled,
the results should already indicate which pricing strategy would make the most
sense. Again, this is all about knowing the consumer. With the results from
research, the segmentation and the value of the unique selling proposition, the
company should spend time to develop the potential strategy. It’s absolutely
necessary to be sure that the consumer will be able to understand how the strategy
works and that these strategies are based on market research findings. It’s even
possible to conduct further research in trial runs to test a new strategy.
Price differentiation is something that can be done for any kind of product which
attracts different customer segments. The easiest versions would be student
discounts, senior discounts and group discounts. These are easily done by
checking identification and can be implemented by most stores and online shops.
For products which can be delivered in different versions with varying values,
second-degree price differentiation can be implemented. An example could be a
limited access to a gym only at special times for a lower price than an all-access
card. It also includes the storage space on a smartpone or a limited edition colour
which is more expensive than the regular model. In the end, it’s about determining
the different values for the segments and skimming them with the right price. If
anything, companies should move away from a cost-plus pricing.
Dynamic pricing is more specific and has been proven very effective in many
channels. Changing prices over time is also a mostly accepted pricing technique,
especially for airlines, hotels, cruise ships and other forms of touristic activities.
Even for products in traditional channels, more and more opportunities of
dynamic pricing have arisen in the past. Electronic price tags, where price changes
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are as simple as on the internet have the ability to change the face of offline
pricing. This way, costs in offline channels can be kept to a minimum and price
changes are done easily. This could make sense for electronics or department
stores, which are much more frequented in the evening and on weekends.
In order to truly grasp willingness to pay, companies should try to personalize
pricing, although as seen throughout this thesis, if it cannot be explained and
properly communicated, it might have negative repercussions. A good way to
avoid any negative backlash are dynamic coupons as part of loyalty programmes
based on prior buying patterns and behaviour. These coupons are especially easy
to use for e-commerce, where past purchase data can be stores and cookies help to
track online activities. Using e-mail or pop-ups at the end of the purchase to
deliver certain coupons is a relatively easy task. Another option is to give discount
on the next purchase, which rewards loyal customers and gives an incentive to
shop again.
There are many possibilities to implement pricing strategies. Marketers should
also implement loyalty programs and improve customer service and experience to
tie the consumer to their brand. Examples of loyalty programs could be a point
system, where collecting points gives the customer the opportunity of a discount
or special customer treatment. These point systems should be clear and concise
and ultimately very simple to understand. Another possibility would be to
implement tiered systems, where the reward increases with loyalty, as done with
airline mile clubs. There are many possibilities with loyalty programmes. The
most important point is to keep existing customers happy and give them a reason
to purchase again.
In the end, anything where the consumer can chose between different values
offers a way to perfectly attract different price sensitivities and maximize sales
and profits. If companies do not have enough expertise in pricing and have not yet
been able to put together a pricing team, they can use consultancies to develop the
strategies and help with the implementation.
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Implementation
Even with the best strategy, the implementation of a pricing strategy should be as
meticulously planned as the strategy behind it.
If the previous steps of the model have shown that the company should indeed
pursue a dynamic pricing strategy, they have increasing opportunities to use
professional tools. Because the topic of dynamic pricing in e-commerce has
gained more importance, online service contractors have appeared, who specialize
in processing the massive amount of data and give automated recommendations.
One such service contractor in the German area is “metoda”, which focuses on
offering companies a Another alternative provider is ActivePivot, which
consolidates data from catalogues, inventory applications, web analytics systems
and online competitor pricing to give meaningful price indicators which allow to
respond to market changes and opportunities. Since it takes a lot of time, effort
and money to collect findings personally and process big data, for many
companies a good alternative can be to choose such a provider to outsource.
Although this kind of financial investment seems to be targeted at large e-
commerce companies, smaller companies also have chances to use dynamic
pricing and even offline channels have certain tools at hand. With electronic shelf
labels, brick and mortar retailers also have increasing power over immediate price
changes.
Obviously, dynamic pricing is not suitable for all companies and products equally.
If the first steps have shown that other price differentiation strategies or even
other forms of value pricing make more sense, they can keep the following in
mind.
Especially when using a direct price discriminatory technique by putting
consumers together in a segment, communication is key. Teaching the value story
and the reasons for the price change to employees can help to satisfy curious
customers, and will slowly lead to an overall higher acceptance of a new pricing
strategy. Most importantly, a company should not just implement a pricing
strategy without thoroughly following the first steps. If so, it could turn out that
the value was over- or underestimated and wrongly priced, which could not only
cause a consumer to avoid a product or company in the future, it could in the
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worst case also tarnish the brand image and have long-term consequences on
brand equity. New pricing strategies should not be forced out too early on, but a
company should rather take its time and if in doubt use small trial runs to test
prices and market research to confirm price sensitivities and willingness to pay.
The perfect pricing strategy takes time and effort and is not done overnight. But
when looking at the effect of an improved pricing strategy on profits, it has a great
impact on margins and on the brand, which can be strengthened. In the end, it is
definitiely worth it to invest in the right price.
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Appendices
Appendix 1 - Thesis Questionnaire
What are the major changes that occurred in pricing over recent years?
In general, what kind of pricing should companies do?
Do you think the internet actually offers new ways of price discrimination?
What kind of new methods do you know about? Which kind of price discrimination would you
recommend for to a company?
Reference Prices:
Do you believe that reference prices differ between offline and online channels?
Do you believe that reference prices differ between different cultures? Why do you think that
is the case?
Which other factors have influence on reference prices? Does this, in your opinion, hold for all
kinds of products?
Can you imagine a situation where the reference price of a product has no influence on the
decision process?
What ways of influence does a company have on the reference price?
Transparency:
Do you believe that more online transparency influences people to spend more time looking
for price information?
What are the main changes that arise with the internet for consumers?
What are the consequences of higher transparency?
For which kind of product do people spend more time looking on the internet? Do only certain
kind of people look for information?
Do you believe that transparency influences the perception of fairness because consumers
can build up their knowledge and experience?
How does the consumer react to transparency?
What other factors have influence on fairness perception?
Which consequences does the feeling of fairness or unfairness have for the customer/company
relationship?
How can a company influence the fairness perception of a consumer?
Does transparency have an influence on the willingness to pay?
What other factors have influence on willingness to pay?
Does this apply to all consumers or are there differences?
How can companies use price transparency to their advantage?
What are the advantages of internet transparency for companies? Do you see new pricing
possibilities and better consumer knowledge as the main advantages? If not, what are the most
important advantages?
Do you believe that the main disadvantages are the increased transparency, especially in
terms of arbitrage risks? What other disadvantages can you imagine? Do these differ with
industries?
Do you think that the overall advantages are greater than the disadvantages? Do you know of
any situation where this might not be the case? Industries, products? Give an example.
How can companies use transparency to their advantage?
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Arbitrage:
Do you think the internet has actively increased the risk of arbitrage?
Which other effect does the internet have on arbitrage?
Are there certain products for which arbitrage is more likely than for others? Which industries are
more affected than others?
In your opinion, do access to markets, decreasing transportation costs and growing free
trade zones decrease the cost of arbitrage?
Can you think of any other factors that have a higher or equal influence on arbitrage?
How do companies protect themselves from arbitrage? How can marketing work against arbitrage?
Dynamic pricing:
Do you think that dynamic pricing is generally considered an unfair pricing technique by the
consumer? What is the most likely reaction of the consumer?
What are possible consequences of dynamic pricing? How would you go to avert the
risks/negative consequences or change the consumers mind?
Do you know of famous examples of dynamic pricing that may or may not have been successful?
Why?
Can you imagine any products where individual prices are accepted by the consumer?
Do you think that dynamic pricing works rather with perishable goods than non-perishable
goods? Why does it work with these products but not with others?
Can you imagine other industries where individual pricing could be an option?
How can a company take advantage of dynamic pricing?
Do you consider dynamic pricing to be important for the future or is it merely a trend?
Do you think that consumers change enough for more individual pricing techniques to become
possible? In which way would a consumer have to change in order for dynamic pricing to work?
Can Companies influence the consumer enough for such a change?
Do you think that individual pricing can only be realized in online channels because
implementation in offline channels is too costly?
What are the main cost factors that cause the differences in costs?
What are the greatest challenges for companies concerning the implementation of dynamic
pricing?
Would you recommend a company to pursue dynamic pricing? What would dynamic pricing
indicate for marketing in general? What other marketing measures would have to be implemented?
NYOP:
Do you believe that NYOP transactions are the easiest way to capture the consumers’
willingness to pay?
With which kind of products does NYOP work?
What is the first thing that comes to your mind about NYOP transactions (products, platforms,
industries, cases, etc.)? Can you think of any other techniques that work similarly?
Is NYOP successful because the consumer determines the price himself and therefore feels a
higher sense of fairness?
Does this work with all products? How can a company positively influence this process?
Promotions:
Do you believe that the majority of consumers takes advantage of coupons?
What influences a consumer to pursue coupons?
Which kind of consumer pursues coupons etc.? Are there products where more consumers try to
find a cheaper price and others where they don’t care?
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How can a company use this knowledge to implement coupons? (Dynamic coupons?)
Appendix 2 - Thesis Fragebogen
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
Welche Art von Pricing sollte ein Unternehmen implementieren?
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet? Kennen Sie ein Beispiel? Welcher Form der Preis- Diskriminierung hat Ihrer Meinung nach die
größte Relevanz? Nach welchen Kriterien würden Sie Preis diskriminieren?
Referenzpreise:
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet? Auf welche Art unterscheidet sich der Referenzpreis?
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet? Welche Gründe gibt es dafür?
Welche anderen Faktoren können Einfluss auf den Referenzpreis haben? Gibt es dabei
Unterschiede bei verschiedenen Produkten?
Gibt es eine Kaufsituation bei der der Referenzpreis keinen Einfluss auf die Entscheidung hat?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen den Referenzpreis beeinflussen?
Transparenz:
Was waren die bedeutendsten Veränderungen die das Internet für den Konsumenten gebracht hat?
/ Was sind die Konsequenzen von höherer Transparenz?
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen?
Für welche Art von Produkt wird die meiste Suche nach Informationen verbracht? Wie würden Sie
den Konsumenten beschreiben, der intensiv und häufig nach Informationen sucht?
Hat Transparenz einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Fairness eines Konsumenten?
Welche weiteren Faktoren haben Einfluss auf das Gefühl von Fairness?
Und welche Konsequenzen hat (Un-) Fairness für die Beziehung zwischen Kunde und
Unternehmen?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Fairness beeinflussen?
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness-to-pay eines
Konsumenten? In welchem Ausmaß?
Welche weiteren Faktoren haben Ihrer Meinung nach einen Einfluss auf die willingness-to-pay?
Gilt dies für alle Konsumenten gleichermaßen oder sehen Sie Unterschiede?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Transparenz als Vorteil nutzen?
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind? Falls nein, was halten Sie für am wichtigsten?
Sind Sie der Meinung dass die größten Nachteile die erhöhte Transparenz für Kunden und
die Gefahr von Arbitrage sind? Welche anderen Nachteile sehen Sie? Unterscheiden sich die
Vor- und Nachteile in verschiedenen Industrien/Branchen?
Glauben Sie, dass die Vorteile von Transparenz die Nachteile überwiegen? Für welche
Situation/Industrie/Produkt könnte dies nicht der Fall sein?
Arbitrage:
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
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Gibt es spezifische Produkte für die eher zutrifft als für andere? Welche Industrien leiden am
meisten unter dem Einfluss von Arbitrage?
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern?
Welche anderen Faktoren spielen hierbei eine Rolle?
Wie kann Marketing im Allgemeinen Arbitrage entgegen wirken?
Dynamic Pricing:
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Welche Art dynamic pricings kennen Sie? Wie reagiert der Konsument auf dynamic pricing?
Gibt es Möglichkeiten negative Konsequenzen zu umgehen – wenn ja, wie?
Kennen sie bekannte Beispiele von dynamic pricing, die erfolgreich waren oder gescheitert sind?
Haben Sie eine Erklärung warum?
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Für welche weitere Art Produkt funktioniert dynamic pricing? Warum funktioniert es mit diesen
aber nicht mit anderen Produkten?
Welche Vorteile hat das Unternehmen durch dynamic pricing?
Ist dynamic pricing die Zukunft der Preispolitik?
Glauben Sie, dass der Konsument insoweit beeinflusst werden kann, dass es mehr Möglichkeiten
für dynamic pricing geben könnte?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen den Konsumenten beeinflussen?
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Was bewirkt den Unterschied in den Kosten?
Welche Herausforderungen bestehen bei der Implementierung von dynamic pricing?
Welche Auswirkungen hat diese Art von Pricing auf das Marketing im Allgemeinen?
Sollte jedes Unternehmen danach streben, dynamic pricing zu nutzen? Was wäre eine Alternative?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen dynamic pricing zu seinem Vorteil nutzen?
NYOP:
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken? (Produkte, Industrien,
Plattformen?)
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Kennen Sie eine andere Preisstrategie, die ähnlich funktioniert?
Glauben Sie der Erfolg von NYOP liegt daran, dass Konsumenten den Preis selbst
bestimmen dürfen und nicht an die Angaben eines Unternehmens gebunden sind?
Funktioniert dieses Prinzip mit jedem Produkt?
Wie kann ein Unternehmen einen positiven Einfluss auf den Konsumenten ausüben?
Coupons:
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Welche Art von Konsument nutzt die Vorteile von Coupons bewusst?
Gibt es Produkte bei denen generell eine höhere Prozentzahl von Coupons benutzt wird? Wie kann
ein Unternehmen dieses Wissen nutzen? – Wie können sie effektiv Coupons einsetzen?
Sind dynamische Coupons die bessere Alternative? Was würden Sie einem Unternehmen raten?
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Appendix 3 - Interview Daniel Korany
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
Die Hauptänderung ist, dass der Konsument einen stärkeren Einfluss hat. Durch Transparenz von
Preis und Qualität, haben Konsumenten eine größere Auswahl von Anbietern und Produkten.
Unternehmen haben keine räumliche Differenzierung mehr möglich durch die Transparenz.
Unternehmen haben Interesse, Konsumenten zufrieden zu stellen durch Bewertungen.
Bewertungen sind sehr Einflussreich und entstehen durch die Transparenz von Preis und Qualität.
Was für eine Art Pricing sollte ein Unternehmen heutzutage implementieren?
So differenziert wie möglich, Kanal- und Kundenspezifisch. In B2B geht das sehr gut, bei B2C ist
es durch die Transparenz schwieriger aber Zwischen Kanälen kann man differenzieren.
Mehrwertorientiert, wenn ich super Bewertungen habe oder Wettbewerbsvorteile können sich im
Preis widerspiegeln. Unternehmen haben oft Angst davor das zu nutzen. Transparenz das können
Unternehmen zu ihrem Vorteil nutzen. Qualität sollte Transparenz sein um Preis zu rechtfertigen.
Preis soll im Verhältnis zum Wert stehen. Im Mediengeschäft ist der Price per Klick
wertorientierter als eine Printanzeige. Hier sind genauere Messungen möglich. Mit dem
Preisniedrigmodell kann man gut machen.
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet?
Ja
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet? Gute Frage, ich glaube der ERP hat online ein bisschen an Stärke verloren oder ist neu definiert.
Die Unverbindliche Preisempfehlung spielt online weniger eine Rolle, da man sehr schnell andere
Referenzen einholen kann und so die Fairness beurteilen kann.
Erwartet der Konsument andere Preise online?
Nein das glaube ich nicht
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet?
Wir launchen eine Kosmetiklinie in Deutschland und den UK, die Preise werden ähnlicher
zwischen verschiedenen Ländern und damit werden auch die Referenzpreise ähnlicher. Schwer zu
sagen.
Welche anderen Faktoren können Einfluss auf den Referenzpreis haben?
Was für eine Art Produkt ist das. Bei Nischenprodukten ist Transparenz nicht so wichtig, je
weniger Angebot es gibt und je weniger es im Kopf ist desto mehr kann das Unternehmen den
Referenzpreis steuern. Gutes Beispiel ist Amazon: Wird als sehr günstig wahr genommen, sind
aber tatsächlich eine der teuersten Anbieter; sie konzentrieren sich auf die meist gesuchtesten
Produkte mit sehr günstigen Preisen, aber das sind nur die Top 10% der Produkte und der Rest ist
sehr teuer.
Unternehmen muss sein Portfolio segmentieren und differenzieren um herauszufinden, in welchem
Bereich sie einen großen Einfluss auf den Referenzpreis haben könnten und das sind sicherlich
nicht die meistgesuchtesten Produkte.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen?
Ja davon würde ich ausgehen.
Was waren die bedeutendsten Veränderungen die das Internet für den Konsumenten
gebracht hat?
Die Kaufentscheidung wird schwieriger. Klar, es gibt mehr Optionen, mehr Produkte,
verschiedene Preise, deshalb braucht er mehr Zeit aber ich glaube das Konsumenten besser Deals
bekommen.
Gibt es dabei Unterschiede bei verschiedenen Produkten?
Bei Industriegütern besteht auch eine gewisse Transparenz, Alibaba verkauft beispielsweise
Zement. Bei Konsumgütern würde ich sagen je komplexer das Produkt, desto länger und
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schwieriger die Suche.
Versicherungen wäre ein solch komplexes Produkt. Hier könnte man zwei Hypothesen aufstellen:
ist die Suche schon so kompliziert, dass man am Ende doch das Erstbeste nimmt, aber aus privater
Erfahrung eher die zweite Hypothese dass man mehr Zeit damit verbringt weil es einfach zu
komplex ist, man braucht einfach ewig.
Hat Transparenz einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Fairness eines Konsumenten?
Ja, wir können uns jetzt ein besseres Bild über Fairness des Preises machen. Wir haben
Transparenz über die Qualität und die Preise. Das hatten wir früher nicht. Die unverbindliche
Preisempfehlung war eine künstliche Transparenz, da Preise immer darunter lagen. Jetzt können
wir uns viel schneller ein Bild machen.
Und welche Konsequenzen hat (Un-) Fairness für die Beziehung zwischen Kunde und
Unternehmen?
Im B2B spreche ich oft von Peak Experiences, ein Moment bei dem man denkt, das war super fair.
Ein Effekt von Preis Fairness würde man auf die ganze Beziehung transferieren, das hat
langfristigen Einfluss auf die Kundenbeziehung. Auch wenn spätere Preise nicht ganz so niedrig
wären wie erwünscht, würde der Kunde es als fair ansehen. Bei Konsumenten ist der Effekt meiner
Meinung nach nicht so stark, man bindet nicht über faire Preise sondern über Loyalty Programme.
Ansonsten müsste man immer den fairen Preis haben, der Effekt ist eher kurzfristig.
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness to pay eines
Konsumenten? Ja
Welche weiteren Faktoren haben Ihrer Meinung nach einen Einfluss auf die willingness to
pay?
Rieseneinfluss haben die Käuferbewertungen, die Geschwindigkeit der Abwicklung, dann meine
persönliche Situation: wie schnell brauche ich das Produkt, Geschenk oder Für mich selbst,
Zahlungsbereitschaft für Geschenk wäre größer. Ansonsten die klassischen Produktfaktoren.
Ich würde die Hypothese aufstellen: Harte Faktoren wie Einkommen haben keinen starken
Einfluss auf die Zahlungsbereitschaft. In B2B wären das eher die erwarteten Einsparungen.
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind?
Genau, was auch wichtig ist sind die besseren Upsell Möglichkeiten. Da ist Amazon der Meister
mit „Kunden kaufen auch“. Ich weiß, dass viele Online Retailer die meisten Profite mit Upselling
machen und den Warenkorb maximieren. Das ist viel einfacher geworden für Unternehmen.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Das habe ich gar nicht als stark wahrgenommen. Das kriege ich immer als großes Problem der
Pharmabranche. Manche kleineren Produkte werden dann vielleicht im Ausland gekauft
beispielsweise Kosmetikprodukte werden in England gekauft aufgrund des Wechselkurses. Die
Preisspanne zwischen Ländern nimmt ab, Preise werden insgesamt ähnlicher.
Welche Industrien leiden am meisten unter dem Einfluss von Arbitrage?
Mit Sicherheit gibt es da Unterschiede, bei Pharma ist Arbitrage ein riesen Thema. Bei Software
Projekten ist das gar kein Thema. Automobilbranche ist noch ein großes Thema. Schweizer
Automobilhändler gehen wegen dem Wechselkurs gerne nach Deutschland um Autos zu kaufen,
auch mit Zoll ist es noch günstiger. Ob das onlinespezifisch ist... ja online befeuert Arbitrage durch
Transparenz.
Glauben Sie, dass die Vorteile von Transparenz die Nachteile überwiegen?
Für Konsumenten und Unternehmen überwiegen die Vorteile. Es ist aber wichtig, dass die
Unternehmen müssen ihre Organisation umstellen und nicht hängen bleiben. Das ist die
Schwierigkeit, weil sie sich nicht anpassen können, wenn man mit Konkurrenz nicht umgehen
kann dann ist man nicht wettbewerbsfähig genug.
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern? Ja, sehr einleuchtend.
Wie kann Marketing im Allgemeinen Arbitrage entgegen wirken?
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Man sollte die Preisspanne klein halten. Man kann mit Transportrichtlinien spielen und die
Lieferungen auf bestimmte Länder begrenzt. Man kann auch sagen, ich führe verschiedene
Marken oder neue Abpackungsgrößen ein, das verhindert Produkttransparenz, dass es im Ausland
günstiger sein könnte zu kaufen.
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Die Regel in B2B ist, keiner bezahlt für sein Kilo Stahl gleich viel, auch bei Software gibt es
Preislisten und man bekommt 60-80% Rabatt, hier sind die Branchen daran gewohnt aber nutzen
Informationen von besseren Deals um zu verhandeln. In B2C funktioniert das, solange es nicht
willkürlich ist. Der Differentiator ist der Zeitpunkt des Kaufs, so lässt sich das erklären. Bei einer
Auktion ist es der Unterschied wer am Ende bietet. Auf Basis von Big Data behaupte ich,
funktioniert das nicht. Es muss erklärt werden können. Dann klappt das gut. Da ist auch ein
Lerneffekt der Konsumenten dabei. Man hat gelernt, dass keiner das gleiche für ein Flugticket
zahlt.
Glauben Sie, dass der Konsument insoweit beeinflusst werden kann, dass es mehr
Möglichkeiten für dynamic pricing geben könnte?
Das geht schon, bei Kinos könnte man dynamic Pricing machen. Sorgt immer für Widerstand zu
Beginn, aber mit Erklärung und gutem Kommunikationsmaterial kann sich der Konsument daran
gewöhnen.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Ja, Kapazitäten spielen dabei einen wichtigen Faktor. Das geht nicht für andere Produkte. Bei
Parfüms kann man auch differenzieren mit einem Treuesystem. Man kann eine Mitgliedschaft
einführen. Man zahlt 100 Euro im Jahr und bekommt 20% Rabatt auf jedes Parfüm, ähnlich wie
bei der Deutschen Bahn.
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Es gibt’s im Offline Kanal. Bei Fluggesellschaft am Flughafen wenn man ein Upgrade auf
Business möchte. Das bieten Airlines aus dem Nahen Osten an, man kann sagen wie viel ist man
bereit zu zahlen? Beim Einstieg wird gesagt ob du den Business Platz bekommst. Bei Ebay
Auktionen feuert man sich gegenseitig an, das treibt den Preis. Wenn man hier einen Anker
einbaut, dann würde das gut funktionieren.
Offline immer teurer, aber bei dem Beispiel der Fluggesellschafts Auktionen wird das auch durch
Software geregelt, dass keine Mehrkosten entstehen. Kostendifferenz durch Personal,
Gebäudekosten etc.
Welche Herausforderungen bestehen bei der Implementierung von dynamic pricing?
Die Schwierigkeit ist das Problem des shitstorms. Wenn jemand rausfindet es ist unfair, meldet
sich an andere Kunden im B2B Bereich und verbreitet das Wort. Das ist gefährlich. Negative
WOM, Konsumenten können sich gegenseitig anstacheln, die Produkte nicht mehr zu kaufen und
machen es sich zur Mission, das Unternehmen schlecht zu machen. Die Hater im Netz sind eine
Gefahr.
Sollte jedes Unternehmen danach streben, dynamic pricing zu nutzen?
Ja ich würde das empfehlen, aber man muss einen guten Roll-out plan haben und sollte nichts über
Nacht erzwingen. Man kann mit einigen Kundensegmente starten, mit einer kleinen
Differenzierungsspanne starten und dann nach und nach erweitern.
Man kann eine Konditionale Roadmap erstellen und KPI festlegen z.B. Um wie viel Prozent
können die Bewertungen schlechter werden.
Welche Auswirkungen hat diese Art von Pricing auf das Marketing im Allgemeinen?
Marktforschung ist sehr wichtig um richtig zu differenzieren, Unternehmen vernachlässigen das
manchmal. Dann ist auch wichtig, unfaire Gefühle mit etwas angenehmem zu verbinden. Man
kann ein Produkt Upgrade machen, es könnte mit Promotions verknüpft werden. Verknüpfung mit
positivem Marketing um Preiserhöhung besser umzusetzen.
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken?
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Das ist schwer für Verhandlungen, weil man als Unternehmen den Anker selbst als Referenz
setzen möchte. Ich würde das gar nicht als NYOP einstufen, eher als Auktion weil der Preis
letztendlich durch den Mechanismus gesteuert wird. Ich kenne das von Cafés oder bei Trinkgeld,
da bin ich skeptisch. Es muss sozial erwünscht sein, viel Geld da zu lassen. Bei Trinkgeld ist es
nicht immer erwünscht, kulturelle Unterschiede aber es gibt keinen richtigen, höchstens einen
kulturellen Anker (Trinkgeld bei uns: 5-10%). Da kann ein Unternehmen mehr rausholen, wenn
man einen Anker setzt. Ein gutes Beispiel ist Taxifahren in den USA. Man wird gefragt wie viel
Trinkgeld möchten sie geben? Möchten sie überhaupt was geben? 20, 25 oder 30% Trinkgeld?
Wenn man da sieht, bei diesem Anker traut sich kein Mensch unter 10% zu geben. Das würde
auch beim Restaurant gehen. Bezahl was du willst, im Durchschnitt wird so und so viel bezahlt.
Bei Museen geht es nicht um Profite, sondern ein kulturelles Angebot, das ist sozial erwünscht,
große Zahlungen werden als Spende gesehen. Das macht Sinn.
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Ja, aber es gibt auch andere Wege. Man hat nicht immer die Option eine Auktion zu machen,
macht nur Sinn bei einem begrenzten Angebot. Willingness to pay kann verloren gehen wenn es
um Notwendigkeit geht. Guter aber kein optimaler Mechanismus, Yield Management ist besser
um Profite abzuschöpfen. Ich erinnere mich an die Olympischen Spiele. Beim Ticketgeschäft gibt
es soziale Anforderungen bestimmte Segmente zu bedienen, Interesse low oder mid segment zu
bedienen. Diese Leute werden durch Auktionen ausgeschlossen.
Glauben Sie der Erfolg von NYOP liegt daran, dass Konsumenten den Preis selbst
bestimmen dürfen und nicht an die Angaben eines Unternehmens gebunden sind?
Ja, aber es klappt nicht wenn eine Notwendigkeit besteht, z.B. muss man von A nach B fliegen
aber Business Class braucht man nicht. Für manche Dinge gibt es eine unbegrenzte
Preisbereitschaft, daher klappt das eher bei „nice to have“ Produkten. Dann ist das ein super
Mechanismus.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen einen positiven Einfluss auf den Konsumenten ausüben?
Alle meine Überlegungen gehen zum Anker. Ankerwirkung ist irrational, wenn man hohe Zahlen
genannt bekommt, wird man automatisch auch eine höhere Zahl nennen. Der Durchschnittliche
Flugpreis kann angegeben werden um eine Preisvorstellung zu vermitteln. Außerdem kann man
die Vorteile des Produkts auszuzeichnen, um wahrgenommenen Wert zu erhöhen.
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Ich würde behaupten, der Effekt von Coupons verpufft ziemlich schnell. Man wird überflutet von
Coupons. Ich finde die eher problematisch da Coupons für ein Ramsch-Image sorgen, man macht
weniger Schnäppchen sondern zerstört eher an Wert.
Welche Art von Konsument nutzt die Vorteile von Coupons bewusst?
Der klassische Schnäppchenjäger, muss nicht Arm sein, aber Gerechtigkeit ist wichtig, er mochte
nicht verarscht werden. Es gibt das Gefühl „Das System überführt zu haben“, ich glaube das ist der
größere Antrieb als tatsächliche Kostenersparnis
Was würden Sie einem Unternehmen raten?
Kommt darauf an, aber grundsätzlich eher kein gutes Tool. Unternehmen machen teilweise viele
Verluste durch Coupons. Es gibt ein großes Risiko und ist sehr spekulativ. Promotion bei der man
klar sahen muss Ziel ist, Awareness in einem bestimmten Gebiet(regional) aber Ziel ist nicht
Umsatz oder Profit.
Appendix 4 - Interview Norbert Weisshaar
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
In Deutschland dominiert der Preis, durch das Nachkriegs-Geschäftsmodell. Beispiel niedrige
Lebensmittelpreise z.B. Aldi; aufgrund der Rabattforderungen muss auf Qualität verzichtet werden
daher die künstliche Aromen in Kuchen. Schnäppchenjagd und Preiskampf wird stärker, Hebel des
Preises 1% Preisänderungen, 12,5% mehr Erträge. Die Dominanz des Preises hat zugenommen,
Geiz ist geil und Aldi-infiziert.
Preisvergleich nur noch einen Klick entfernt, Verkäufer verlieren ihre Verkaufsargumente,
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Verkäufer müssen ihre Value Story erzählen und in den Zielgruppen intelligenter arbeiten. Nur
Produkt und Preis interessiert, Service ist nicht mehr so relevant.
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet?
Ja, man kann sich jetzt richtig positionieren. VW hat 12 Marken unter einem Dach, alle Marken
funktionieren. Preisdifferenzierung deutlich im Bereich des Tourismus.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet?
Viele machen keinen Unterschied mehr, aber grundsätzlich höherer Referenzpreis da man das
Erlebnis hat, einen netten Verkäufer, hier kann die Kommunikation zum Preis besser aufgebaut
werden. Bei Produkten für Leidenschaft, Hobby achten wir weniger auf den Preis und damit eine
höhere Zahlungsbereitschaft, Situation: Entspannt, Urlaub, in der Not gibt man mehr aus. Wieso
habe ich mehr bezahlt im offline Kanal? Netter Verkäufer, gute Beratung erhöht die
Zahlungsbereitschaft
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet?
Ja, Nahrungsmittel in den verschiedenen Ländern, Frankreich oder Italien gibt viel mehr aus als
die Deutschen, dafür ist in Deutschland ein dickes Auto vor der Tür, Werte die nach außen wirken.
Die soziale Schere geht weiter auseinander, Kultur und Kaufkraft zwingen die Menschen zu Aldi
und Lidl, da nicht mehr Geld – aus reinem Sachzwang.
Welche anderen Faktoren können Einfluss auf den Referenzpreis haben?
Wettbewerbsverhalten, Transparenz dass es beim Onlineshop das Produkt günstiger gibt;
Abstriche/Abschlag machen z.B. bei Service, Verfügbarkeit, Schnäppchenmentalität nicht nur
günstig zu kaufen sondern Verwandten und Bekannten zeigen zu können : „ich habe ein
Schnäppchen gemacht“
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen? Ja
Für welche Art von Produkt wird die meiste Suche nach Informationen verbracht?
Manche suchen zuerst nach Preis, während andere auch nach Bewertungen suchen auf Blogs etc.
Käuferverhalten das auf Beschreibungen und Bewertungen achtet
Hat Transparenz einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Fairness eines Konsumenten?
Ja, bei guten Bewertungen von Produkten und Services ist der Konsument eher bereit was zu
bezahlen; bei Hobbys ist man bereit mehr zu bezahlen; was heißt fair? Premiumauto Porsche
Cayenne ist keine Design-Offenbarung aber der Konsument will dieses Label haben, keine
Verhandlungen möglich mit Verkäufern
Transparenz ist ein Indikator für Marktpreis und konkurrenzfähiger Preis, aber fairer Preis ist
schwer zu definieren, welche Erwartungen und Kaufmotive habe ich? Mit einem Porsche will ich
angeben und bin dementsprechend bereit mehr zu bezahlen
Und welche Konsequenzen hat (Un-) Fairness für die Beziehung zwischen Kunde und
Unternehmen?
Verschiedene Möglichkeiten des Feedbacks, im Restaurant habe ich hohe Erwartungen und meine
Erwartungen wurden nicht getroffen – fatale Folgen wie ein Kieselstein den man ins Wasser wirft.
Negatives Image durch negatives WOM, Feedback über Blogs und Plattformen,
Gefahr da es sehr subjektiv ist und es immer auf die einzelnen Feedbacks ankommt
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Fairness beeinflussen?
Transparenz über den Mehrwert, um Preis zu rechtfertigen, Man muss den Preis erklären. Mehr
aufklären, sowohl Verkäufer als auch Kunde. Value Story ist mehr als Produkt und Preis, sondern
gesamter Marketing mix. Segmentierter transportieren, für einen reinen Preiskäufer machen
Mehrwerte keinen Sinn, er achtet nicht auf Zusatzinformationen; Leistung muss klar
Zielgruppenmäßig transportiert werden; mehr Preis für wahrgenommene Mehrleistung: weiche
Faktoren: Freundlichkeit, Service, oder animiert dargestellt auf einer Website.
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness to pay eines
Konsumenten?
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Ja, wenn transparent gemacht wird was den Preis ausmacht durch z.B. Zusatznutzen, Verkäufer
kann auf Bedürfnislage eingehen, Botschaften warum es kein Discountpreis ist; Beispiel Taschen-
Label mit handgefertigten marokkanischen Taschen, nicht billig aber Gründerin erklärt dass 50%
in Schulprojekte in Beduinenbereichen eingesetzt wird, erhöhter Zahlungsbereitschaft wegen
gutem Gewissen. Viele Unternehmen machen Cost Plus, aber viele haben den Mut nicht sich im
hochqualitativen Preis aufzuhalten. Premium Parkett Hersteller gibt zu schnell nach in den Preisen;
die haben beim Endkonsumenten festgestellt, dass Bereitschaft bei 30% über dem aktuellen Preis
liegt; Rausfinden welcher Preis der Endkonsument bezahlen will. Swarovski Chef hat eine Kette
von exklusiven Rosengeschäften aufgemacht, welches Preissystem? Value Pricing, Umfrage bei
Kunden um den Preis herauszufinden
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Transparenz als Vorteil nutzen?
Ja, man muss die Sprache der Zielgruppe sprechen und Erwartungshaltungen erfüllen, Angebot
nicht in Technoquatsch formulieren sondern klare Botschaften für die gewünschten Zielgruppen;
viele Informieren sich vorher und gehen dann in den Laden oder man bekommt im Laden das
Produkt dreidimensional präsentiert aber man lässt es sich nach Hause liefern
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind? Ja natürlich, Big Data blickt keiner mehr
durch; soll man auf Print oder Media setzen. Herausforderung diese Möglichkeiten auf das
Geschäftsmodell zu übertragen.
Man sollte herausfinden welche Motive steuern den Konsumenten, die Zielgruppe, denn das ist
wichtig für die Preissetzung.
Sind Sie der Meinung dass die größten Nachteile die erhöhte Transparenz für Kunden und
die Gefahr von Arbitrage sind?
Ja, die Unternehmen müssen sich darauf einstellen, weg von Produkt Lebenszyklus und
Preiszyklus, flexibler reagieren und rasch auf Änderungen einstellen, mit Innovationen punkten,
dann wird der Preis nur noch sekundär sein, wichtig ist auch Spezifikationen einzuhalten, Qualität
gleich bleibend; wenn ein Produkt ein Versprechen hat und bei billigen Komponenten floppt das
Produkt, kann sich ein Unternehmen nicht leisten; Termintreue und wettbewerbsfähige Preise.
Glauben Sie, dass die Vorteile von Transparenz die Nachteile überwiegen?
Eine Transparenz, die Leistung verdeutlicht ist ein großer Vorteil, daraus kann ich was machen;
viele haben Angst davor dass Informationen der Kalkulation offen liegen; Value Story auf den
Punkt bringen ob über Wort und Bild oder im Verkaufsgespräch
Transparenz funktioniert für viele Premiumprodukte z.B. Hermes und Kelly Tasche
Menschen wollen sich differenzieren von anderen, Prestige Thema bedienen und dafür wird ein
bestimmter Preis bezahlt
Es gibt ein Delta, bei dem man den Preis akzeptiert. Tankstelle 1 3 Cent billiger aber t2 immer
besonders freundlich, deshalb geht man dahin; falls 4 Cent teurer dann t1.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Ja, deshalb flexibel auf dem Schirm haben wie sich Angebot und Nachfrage in den verschiedenen
Märkten verhält und dann reagieren
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern? Ja
Welche anderen Faktoren spielen hierbei eine Rolle? Schnelligkeit
Wie kann Marketing im Allgemeinen Arbitrage entgegen wirken?
Man muss Kunden immer mehr segmentieren und neue Preispunkte setzen; Zielkundengerecht
setzen und auf den ein oder anderen Kunden verzichten der keine Margen mehr nennt.
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Nein glaube ich nicht, da der Konsument es gar nicht mitbekommt; Media Markt je nach Frequenz
wird der Preis z.B. der Waschmaschine geändert, morgens billiger, abends teurer; gar keinen
Überblick ob Fair oder nicht.
Für bestimmte Produkte hat man klare Preispunkte z.B. für Butter für andere nicht.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
92
Ja ganz klar, weil man kann es inhaltlich argumentieren, beispielsweise „die Bananen müssen
raus“. Funktioniert auch für Saisongeschäft z.B. Grill ist im Herbst Winter billiger
Welche Vorteile hat das Unternehmen durch dynamic pricing?
Letztendlich ist es ein Margenspiel, dynamic pricing richtig gemacht und angepasst kann zum
Margenstabilisator werden; Nachlässe sind schlecht, bei nur 5% Rabatt muss man 27,5% mehr
Menge verkaufen, diesen Hebel kennen viele nicht und denken sie können es „über die Masse
wieder machen.“
Ist dynamic pricing die Zukunft der Preispolitik?
Ich glaube schon dass es eine stabile Größe sein wird.
Glauben Sie, dass der Konsument insoweit beeinflusst werden kann, dass es mehr
Möglichkeiten zur individuellen Diskriminierung geben könnte?
Obwohl der Preis dominant ist glaube ich dass wir so reizüberflutet sind, dass der Effekt nicht
lange anhält; heute so morgen so. Lidl hat einen Skandal nach dem anderen aber es wird weiterhin
gekauft. Die größte Macht hat der Verbraucher aber dem Großteil geht es nicht um moralische
oder ethische Geschichten, nicht nachhaltig, morgen ist alles wieder vergessen
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Ganz eindeutig; wenn ein internationales Unternehmen z.B. Adidas dynamic pricing in Russland
machen will sind die Kosten zu hoch in traditionellen Kanälen, dauert im Face to Face zu lange,
dynamic pricing und Internet bedingt sich.
Sollte jedes Unternehmen danach streben, dynamic pricing zu nutzen?
Ja wenn es das Produktportfolio und die Branche zulassen; dynamic pricing wird schon immer
gemacht, nur langsamer; jetzt eben besser durchs Internet, Preise wurden schon immer justiert,
heute schneller und präziser.
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken? (Produkte, Industrien,
Plattformen?) Ebay
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Hier kommt es auf die Bereitschaft des Konsumenten an, sportlicher Ehrgeiz des Mitbietens, will
ich mir das Produkt leisten oder nicht, NYOP nur als Teil der gesamten Preispolitik, nur mit
bestimmten Produktgruppen, ich glaube nicht ich mache alles auf Auktionen
Glauben Sie der Erfolg von NYOP liegt daran, dass Konsumenten den Preis selbst
bestimmen dürfen und nicht an die Angaben eines Unternehmens gebunden sind?
Ja, es gibt ein gutes Gefühl aber letztendlich verschenkt niemand was; psychologische
Komponente.
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Es gab mal einen großen Hype. Dynamische Coupons sind grundsätzlich besser als normale
Coupons.
Appendix 5 - Interview Jochen Gönsch
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
Die Leute machen sich zunehmend mehr Gedanken um Preise, wir haben den Eindruck dass es
immer noch viele Unternehmen gibt, die es einfach irgendwie machen, aus dem Bauch heraus,
aber zunehmend gibt es dass man Marktforschung macht, zum anderen aber auch mit gesundem
Menschenverstand ran geht. Es gibt es häufig, dass man gewachste Preis-Strukturen im
Unternehmen hat. Wir hatten mal einen Bauchmaschinenverleih, da konnte man Bagger, Gerüste
zu vermieten: die hatten es so dass je länger man mietet, desto günstiger wird der Preis pro Tag,
man konnte 7 Tage mieten. Ein Tag war teurer als nur 5 Tage nutzen und musste dann nur 5/7
bezahlen, es war dermaßen besser länger zu mieten. Solche Strukturen gibt es häufig und es ist
mein Eindruck dass sich Unternehmen immer mehr daran machen, solche Probleme zu vermeiden.
Autovermieter: One Way Miete teurer als wenn man das Auto zur gleichen Station zurückbrachte.
One Way Miete war es bei der Abholung zu sagen. Wenn sie das Auto einfach woanders
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abgegeben haben, dann war es trotzdem der günstigere Preis. Unternehmen versuchen jetzt, solche
Inkonsistenzen zu vermeiden.
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet?
Ja bestimmt, das hängt immer vom gut ab. Bei Dienstleistungen kann man über das Internet mehr
Konfiguration beim Produkt vornehmen als im Ladengeschäft, egal welches Produkt denn es
braucht nicht die Zeit des Verkäufers. Beispiel: Gravur iPhone.
Blind Booking bei Germanwings: Flug buchen aber bei der Buchung ist es unklar, wohin man
fliegt. Je mehr Ziele man ausschließt, desto teurer aber desto klarer beeinflussbar, wohin die Reise
geht.
Nach welchen Kriterien würden Sie Preis diskriminieren?
Das hängt vom Produkt ab und wie man es vertreibt. Es gibt die üblichen Sachen aus der Literatur,
zweiten oder dritten Grades. Interessant sind Unternehmen, die in Werbeaussagen und
Pressemeldungen die in Richtung ersten Grades diskriminieren, mit Nutzung von
Gutscheinaktionen und Coupons, bei denen man versucht Kunden über individuelle Kundenkarten
Dinge zu geben
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet?
Ja ich glaube als Kunde ist man im online Kanal sehr schnell Vergleichspreise besorgen kann.
Wenn man nicht nur bei Amazon bestellt und es etwas Teureres ist bei dem man sich mehr Zeit
lässt, dann kann man sehr schnell bei einer Preissuchmaschine und einem anderen Anbieter einen
Vergleichspreis bekommen wenn es ein standardisiertes Produkt ist. Im Laden ist es nicht ganz so
einfach, da muss man aufs Handy schauen um vielleicht noch einen Versandpreis zu finden.
Online hat man eher einen Referenzpreis, der eine reale Preis ist zu dem ich das gut auch bestellen
kann. Im Laden hat man eher ein Gefühl was das gut kosten sollte, aber da steckt kein direkter
Preisvergleich dahinter.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet?
Grundsätzlich ist der konkrete Preis sehr sicher immer unterschiedlich. Die Sachen sind in
verschiedenen Marlten objektiv auch unterschiedlich teuer. Sicher unterscheidet sich auch die Art,
wie sich der Referenzpreis bildet, selbst schon innerhalb eines Landes je nach Alter und
Produktgruppe.
Gibt es eine Kaufsituation bei der der Referenzpreis keinen Einfluss auf die Entscheidung
hat?
Ja bestimmt, bei Produkten die man schnell haben will oder die günstiger sind. Wenn sie
unterwegs sind und Durst haben dann kaufen Sie etwas, auch wenn es teuer ist. In dem Fall spielt
der Referenzpreis für die Kaufentscheidung keine Rolle. Man versucht den Referenzpreis durch
Marketing zu beeinflussen, in dem man das Produkt als hochwertig präsentiert; auch durch die
Verpackung. Es gibt einen Ansatz: wenn man eine Zeitschrift kaufen will für 6 Monate kostet es
30€ und für 12 Monate kostet es nur 40€ und das Abo für zwei Jahre kostet nur 75€. Daraufhin
kaufen die Leute das Jahres Abo weil es super günstig wirkt. Man setzt alternative Angebote, die
dann den Referenzpreis beeinflussen mit Angeboten die letztlich keiner kauft.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen?
Die Preistransparenz hat sicherlich zugenommen, vielleicht in wenigen Bereichen nicht aber bei
normalen Produkten schon. Ja ich glaube schon, dass Kunden mehr Zeit mit Informationssuche
verbringen. Früher sind Kunden schneller zum Laden gegangen und haben das Produkt gekauft
aber mit mehr Informationen und Preisen wird länger gesucht.
Für welche Art von Produkt wird die meiste Suche nach Informationen verbracht?
Naja gut, es gibt Recherche in innerlichen Aspekten z.B. wenn man einen neuen Computer kauft.
Gut vergleichbare Produkte würde ich eher Preise vergleichen. Bei Kleidung finde ich es
schwierig. Myhammer Plattform bei dem man eine Kleinanzeige macht, welche Handwerkliche
Leistung man benötigt und dann werden Angebote abgegeben, aber die Angebote liegen bis zu
100% auseinander; zuvor gab es in diesem Bereich keine Transparenz. Früher hat man maximal
zwei Maler angerufen, jetzt kann man viele Angebote einholen.
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Hat Transparenz einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Fairness eines Konsumenten?
Ja, in der Erfahrung der Maler den dreifachen Preis zu bieten. Alles was 50 oder 100% teurer ist
als ein anderer Preis ist sogar ein Verstoß gegen die guten Sitten. Aus Preistransparenz ergibt sich
dann ein Gefühl was der Marktpreis sein soll und wenn ein Preis extrem über dem Marktpreis ist,
ohne dass ich verstehe warum, dann empfinde ich das als unfair.
Und welche Konsequenzen hat (Un-) Fairness für die Beziehung zwischen Kunde und
Unternehmen?
Wenn ich das Gefühl habe, jemand macht mir einen unfairen Preis würde ich keine weitere
Beziehung zu dem Unternehmen mehr wünschen.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Fairness beeinflussen?
Man muss seinen Preis erklären; man muss dafür sorgen, dass der Kunde versteht warum der Preis
so ist wie er ist. Dann sieht der Kunde hoffentlich ein, warum der Preis teurer ist und entscheidet
sich dafür. Qualitätsgründe spielen rein. Beim Strompreis ist es vielleicht auch wichtig 100%
Ökostrom zu nehmen, anstatt den wichtigsten Preis.
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness to pay eines
Konsumenten?
Je transparenter der Markt, je mehr habe ich einen Referenzpreis im Kopf. Wenn ich das nicht
habe, bin ich eher bereit den erstbesten Preis zu bezahlen.
Welche weiteren Faktoren haben Ihrer Meinung nach einen Einfluss auf die willingness to
pay?
Sicherlich auch die eigenen Möglichkeiten. Es gibt Produktkategorien, bei denen ich den Preis für
angemessen halte, die ich aber trotzdem nicht kaufe weil es über meinen finanziellen
Möglichkeiten liegt.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Transparenz als Vorteil nutzen?
Für diejenigen, die neu in den Markt gehen und günstige Preise haben ist das sicher ein Vorteil.
Gerade bei Marktplätzen wie „Myhammer“ ist man nicht nur darauf angewiesen, empfohlen zu
werden sondern kann auch mit dem Preis Kunden erreichen.
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind?
In Bezug auf die Transparenz habe ich nie darüber nachgedacht, ob es Vorteile zu Big Data gibt.
Natürlich sind Unternehmen dabei, sich ein Bild über die Preise zu machen und haben die Vorgabe
wir sind 5% billiger wie der Wettbewerb oder sind teurer weil wir etwas besser machen. Von dem
her nutzen sie die Transparenz auch für sich. Ich würde nicht sagen, es ist eine Big Data Sache.
Big Data ist eher auf die Kunden ausgerichtet um deren Zahlungsbereitschaft abzuschöpfen, damit
bekommen Unternehmen eine Idee welche Produkte dem Kunden anzubieten und welche Preise zu
verlangen. Big Data ist auf Kaufdaten und den Konsumenten
Sind Sie der Meinung dass die größten Nachteile die erhöhte Transparenz für Kunden und
die Gefahr von Arbitrage sind?
Arbitrage in dem Sinne nicht. Arbitrage in dem Sinne, dass man für den eigenen Bedarf da kauft
wo es am günstigsten ist. Ob man als Kunde zum Händler wird oder ob neue Akteure auf den Plan
treten, die es vorher nicht gegeben hätte, die als Händler Arbitrage nutzen, das mag passieren aber
ich glaube es ist ein gewisser Aufwand bei den meisten Produkten und diese Leute würden das
auch tun ohne dass es so eine Preistransparenz gibt. Wenn man das semi-professionell macht, dann
nimmt man sich auch die Zeit um rauszufinden, wie die Preise sind. Es ist vielleicht von Vorteil
wenn der Kunde die Transparenz nicht hat, kann der Kunde selbst im Ausland bestellen und
braucht nicht einen intermediären dazwischen.
Welche anderen Nachteile sehen Sie?
Transparenz kann man aus als Nachteil sehen weil Preise unter Druck geraten. Wenn der Kunde
mehr Transparenz hat verstärkt sich der Preis-Wettbewerb. Gerade bei standardisierten Produkten
kommt es schnell zu einem Preiswettbewerb, weil der Kunde vergleichen kann. Die
Preissuchmaschine sortieren ja direkt nach dem Preis und man hat als Unternehmen großen
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Preisdruck. Ein Unternehmen hat auch einen gewissen Innovationsdruck. Wenn es nur das ist, dass
der Onlineshop immer aktuell ist.
Glauben Sie, dass die Vorteile von Transparenz die Nachteile überwiegen?
Ich glaube das kommt auf das Unternehmen und die Branche an. Kennen Sie das Versandhaus
Quelle? Man weiß nicht ob es nur am Internet lag, aber es hatte einen großen Einfluss – für Quelle
haben die Nachteile die Vorteile überwogen obwohl ein Versandhaus prädestiniert für das Internet
wäre. Die haben ja schon die Logistik und trotzdem vielleicht von Amazon plattgemacht worden.
Otto hat es geschafft – die gibt es noch.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Ich denke schon. Als Konsument hat man durch das Internet leichter die Möglichkeit, Produkte zu
verkaufen; definitiv leichter als früher durch Kleinanzeigen-Blätter. In den Anfangsjahren von
Ebay gab es mehr Konsumenten, die zu Händlern wurden. Man kann ein spezielleres Publikum
erreichen und dadurch auch spezielle Artikel verkaufen.
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern?
Sicherlich, ich glaube dass es da noch ein Problem ist, wegen Zoll in Amerika zu bestellen. In
Europa ist es einfacher zu bestellen. Gerade wenn Märkte zusammenwachsen sinken häufig die
Transportkosten. Es gibt bestimmte Unternehmen, Amazon als Beispiel, wenn man in Frankreich
ist muss man gar nicht im deutschen Amazon bestellen, sondern man kann auch die gleichen
Sachen bei dem französischen Amazon bestellen, dass dann eben mit den normalen französischen
Transportkosten schickt.
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Ich verstehe Dynamic Pricing als Änderung der Preise im zeitlichen Ablauf. Eine
Preisdifferenzierung ist es nur in dem Sinne, dass Kunden die zu unterschiedlichen Zeitpunkten
kaufen unterschiedliche Preise habe. Klassischer Anwender sind die Billigfluggesellschaften.
Wenn sie auf die Webseite gehen hat jeder Flug nur einen Preis, wenn sie morgen schauen, dann
kann der Preis anders sein. Bei Lufthansa haben sie ganz viele Optionen – Sie können
verschiedene Klassen buchen, mit oder ohne Stornierungsmöglichkeit usw. Damit haben sie
innerhalb der Economy Class ganz viele unterschiedliche Preise, die sich zwar tendenziell ändern
aber doch weniger als bei RyanAir.
Grundsätzlich kommt es darauf an, wenn man eine segmentorientierte Preisdifferenzierung hat und
Kunden auf Grund Eigenschaften einordnet, Seniorenrabatt und sowas, das glaube ich kann als
unfair empfunden werden. Die Kunden können nichts daran machen, wie sie einsortiert sind.
Wenn man dagegen Preisdifferenzierung hat, die nicht auf Segmenten ansetzt sondern wo die
Kunden sich selbst einordnen, ist es besser. Es gab mal vor 10-15 Jahren als Amazon
unterschiedlichen Deutschen unterschiedliche Preise angeboten hat. Das war ein Riesenskandal
und 10 Jahre hat sich niemand mehr an dieses Thema ran getraut. Man konnte da auch nichts
dagegen machen und die Vermutung war, dass Stammkunden teurere Preise kriegen als
Erstkunden und sowas wird schnell als unfair gesehen. Ansonsten hängt es von der Branche ab,
beim Linienflugverkehr hat man sich daran gewöhnt, bei Kreuzfahrten ist es nicht akzeptiert wenn
der Tischnachbar einen anderen Preis bezahlt hat. Da muss man dann als Unternehmen die
Produkte verändern.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Das ist ein anderer Aspekt, die Differenzierung funktioniert wenn Arbitrage nicht möglich ist.
Flugticket ist auf den Namen gebucht und wird am Flughafen kontrolliert. Bei einem Konzertticket
ist es was anderes. Bei einem verderblichen Produkt kann man z.B. den Platz im Flugzeug nicht
mehr verkaufen, hat man ein Ende des Verkaufszeitraums. Man muss das Ticket bis zum Abflug
verkaufen oder es hat den Wert Null. Das Führt dazu, dass man als Anbieter häufig im Zeitverlauf
fallende Preise hat. Aus der Kundenseite wird nichts verändert aber man hat in der Regel als
Anbieter den fallenden Preisverlauf weil man zu jedem Zeitpunkt überlegen muss, neben der
Zahlungsbereitschaft, will man das Produkt zu dem Preis verkaufen oder verkaufe ich es morgen
zu einem eventuell höheren Preis. Bei verderblichen Produkten geht das nicht ewig, daher ist der
Wert sinkend im Zeitablauf. Gerade bei Fluggesellschaften ist das ein wichtiger Grund für
dynamic pricing.
96
Ein weiteres Beispiel wäre ein Markt, wenn das Gemüse eine halbe Stunde bevor der Markt
schließt, günstiger verkauft wird weil das am nächsten Tag nichts mehr wert ist.
Warum funktioniert es mit diesen aber nicht mit anderen Produkten?
Ich glaube es liegt daran, dass sich die Leute daran gewöhnen mit der Zeit. Und dann natürlich,
dass man das Gefühl hat selbst Einfluss zu haben, was bei den Flugpreisen so wäre. Wenn Ihnen
Amazon den teureren Preis anzeigt, dann fühlt man sich schnell diskriminiert.
Welche Vorteile hat das Unternehmen durch dynamic pricing?
Gegenüber statischem pricing hat das Unternehmen, das sinnvoll dynamic pricing einsetzt einen
höheren Erlös und es hat häufig bessere Chancen seine Kapazität vollständig auszulasten. Man
kann durch Preisveränderungen die Auslastung gut steuern.
Ist dynamic pricing die Zukunft der Preispolitik? Wird dynamic pricing eine große Rolle in
der Zukunft spielen?
Es hat auf jeden Fall zugenommen, bei Produkten im Internet kann man Preise leicht ändern.
Früher war auf jedem Produkt ein Preisschild aufgeklebt, das war sehr aufwendig, weil man
Preisschilder immer neu kleben musste oder Schilder mit Preisminderungen aushängen. Insofern
ist es einfacher geworden und es gibt viele Untersuchungen zu Preisverläufen von Online
Kaufhäusern, bei denen man im Zeitverlauf sieht, dass sich Preise ändern. Ob viele Überlegungen
dahinter stecken, ist eine andere Frage. Vielleicht wird nur ausprobiert, ob Kunden die Preise
zahlen ohne dass die Preise selbst optimiert sind.
Weiß nicht ob sie mal in Frankreich im Supermarkt waren? Da sind die Preisschilder im Regelfall
elektronisch, das gibt es mittlerweile auch in einzelnen Supermärkten in Deutschland. Das macht
auch nur Sinn, wenn man in die Richtung Dynamic Pricing geht.
Das ist ein Zeichen, dass auch so eine Branche in diese Richtung geht.
Glauben Sie, dass der Konsument insoweit beeinflusst werden kann, dass es mehr
Möglichkeiten zur individuellen Diskriminierung geben könnte?
Ja denke ich schon. Gerade wenn die Kunden sehen, dass es für sie auch von Vorteil sein kann
weil es zu bestimmten Zeiten günstiger ist.
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Es kommt drauf an wie Sie das dynamic pricing machen und wie oft man die Preise ändert. Offline
hat man Aufwand wenn man täglich Preise ändern will, bei einem Schlussverkauf eher weniger.
Schwer zu sagen was akzeptiert ist, Tankstellen ändern regelmäßig die Preise und es wird
akzeptiert. Eingeschränkt gibt es das in offline Kanälen, beispielsweise die Schlussverkäufe als
einfache Form von dynamic pricing, wobei immer wieder reduziert wird. Es gibt auch Beispiele,
die es schon sehr lange gibt.
Welche Herausforderungen bestehen bei der Implementierung von dynamic pricing?
Man muss es technisch schaffen, die Preise zu ändern – egal wie wenn man offline verkauft muss
man Preisschilder kleben und man muss es durchführen, dass der Preis sich ändert. Online ist es
genauso, auch hier muss man den Preis ändern. Man muss auch entscheiden, wie soll der Preis
sich ändern. Soll der Preis einen Preis abdecken oder möchten sie eine Marketing Maßnahmen
durchsetzen, bei dem der Umsatz und die Erlöse nicht so wichtig, oder geht es darum dass neue
Leute kommen. Das sind die beiden grundsätzlichen Herausforderungen. Es besteht auch die
Gefahr, dass die Leute es lernen. Das ist bei Pauschalreisen passiert, da haben die Leute gelernt,
dass es Last Minute Reisen gibt und diese viel günstiger sind. Jetzt warten viele auf diese Last
Minute Preise. Anbieter versuchen mit Frühbucherrabatten gegenzusteuern aber das machen sie
nur wegen dem Problem mit Last Minute, wo die Kunden abwarten und nicht 5 Monate früher den
Urlaub buchen. Für die Anbieter ist es ein Problem wenn Kapazitäten nicht verkauft werden.
Wenn man seine Preise zeitlich ändert, lernen Kunden auch abzuwarten. Das kann auch mit einer
örtlichen Preisdifferenzierung passieren, wenn die Leute ins Outlet fahren um günstig einzukaufen.
Sollte jedes Unternehmen danach streben, dynamic pricing zu nutzen?
Schwer zu sagen. Pauschal würde ich das nicht sagen aber tendenziell würde ich sagen ein
Unternehmen sollte schon darüber nachdenken oder sich zumindest sich damit beschäftigen, was
dynamic pricing ist und ob das eingeführt werden kann. Ob das für jeden gut ist, wie gesagt, es
kann halt auch negative Aspekte haben. Wer es nicht macht und die Voraussetzungen erfüllt sind
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Bäckereien. Ich kenne keine Bäckereien die abends das Brot günstiger macht. Die wollen sich
nicht die Preise kaputt machen. Ob das die richtige Entscheidung ist, weiß ich nicht.
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken? (Produkte, Industrien,
Plattformen?)
Das ist ein Thema, dass in der Forschung beleuchtet wird. Was mir einfällt, dass es das
ursprünglich aus Amerika kommt, es gibt es auch in Deutschland mittlerweile. Priceline haben
NYOP erfunden und ich glaube die haben sich dieses Wort auch schützen lassen. Priceline
vermittelt Reise und Flüge.
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Gute Frage. Nein glaube ich nicht, sonst hätte man das früher erfunden und es hätte sich früher
durchgesetzt. Ich glaube, wenn das so ein super Weg wäre hätte es eine größere Bedeutung.
Glauben Sie der Erfolg von NYOP liegt daran, dass Konsumenten den Preis selbst
bestimmen dürfen und nicht an die Angaben eines Unternehmens gebunden sind?
Ja sicher, ich meine der Konsument gibt den Preis an und er kann höher sein als der Anbieter
verlangt hätte und dann ist das gut für den Anbieter. Wenn der Konsument einen niedrigen Preis
angibt, bekommt er das Produkt nicht, so gesehen gibt es auch keinen Schaden für den Anbieter.
Wenn der Anbieter sich einen Mindestpreis setzt, dann kommt er gut raus. Viele Leute nehmen
bisher nicht Teil, weil es aufwendig ist, auch wenn das nicht wirklich ein Argument, je nachdem
wie die Website gestaltet ist. Ich glaube wichtiger ist die Frage ob er Kunde am Ende damit
zufrieden ist. Ich glaube wenn ich ein normales Produkt kaufe zu einem Preis was ich im vornerein
kenne und das Produkt ist so wie es beschrieben ist, dann bin ich in der Regel zufrieden. Gerade
wenn ich geschaut habe, was das Produkt woanders kostet und es zumindest nicht viel billiger ist
woanders. Bei diesem NYOP, wenn ich vielleicht einen Preis gezahlt habe, der niedriger ist als
woanders, bin ich vielleicht immer noch unzufrieden, weil man sich denkt, man könnte auch noch
10 € weniger eingeben können und man hätte auch 10€ weniger gespart. Wenn man das Produkt
nicht bekommt, dann ist man auch unzufrieden. Vielleicht hätte man ja nur 2€ mehr eingeben
müssen. Das ist vielleicht ein Grund warum es sich nicht durchgesetzt hat. Weil der Kunde es
vielleicht auch als kompliziert empfindet, sich den Preis zu überlegen. Es gibt auch bei Ebay das
Phänomen, dass viele Sachen teurer verkauft werden als über eine Preissuchmaschine, weil wenn
die Leute mal mitsteigern, dann wollen die Leuten auch die Auktion gewinnen und das Produkt
haben.
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Ich benutze manche Coupons, ob das der Großteil macht, schwer zu sagen. Nein die Mehrheit der
mir zur Verfügung stehenden Coupons nutze ich nicht.
Gibt es Produkte bei denen generell eine höhere Prozentzahl von Coupons benutzt wird?
Diese Coupons, die im Briefkasten kommen und die man beim täglichen Einkauf verwenden kann,
dass die tendenziell benutzt werden glaube ich.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen dieses Wissen nutzen? – Wie können sie effektiv Coupons
einsetzen? (dynamische Coupons?)
Dynamische Coupons? Weiß ich nicht, weil es gib ja solche und solche Coupons. Die mit der
Zeitung kommen und für jeden gleich sind, und es gibt die etwas individuelleren Coupons. Weiß
nicht welche sinnvoller sind. Man kann immer sagen, individueller besser weil es mehr kann aber
es ist auch mehr Aufwand.
Appendix 6 - Interview Werner Tauss
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
Ich gehe mal überwiegend auf den Bereich Flug. Da hat sich vor allem geändert, dass wir
wegkommen von den Konditionen, die in den Fares drin waren und von Price Fencing und hin zu
Fare Families. Ich habe also mehrere Typen mit unterschiedlichen Preispunkten. Diese Preispunkte
ändern sich täglich.
98
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet? Auf jeden Fall. Ich kann das Kundenverhalten viel besser analysieren und kann als Airline mehr
über den Kunden wissen. Im Internet sind die Möglichkeiten viel flexibler, Angebote anzuzeigen.
Nach welchen Kriterien sollte man diskriminieren?
Was ist dem Kunden bei Produkten wichtig und worauf legt er Wert. Bis zu der Frage was er
bereit ist zu bezahlen. Das kann man gut mit Marktforschung belegen. Das Unternehmen muss
herausfinden, was der Kunde will. Dabei kann man ganz schöne Überraschungen in der
Marktforschung erleben.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet? Auf welche Art unterscheidet sich der Referenzpreis?
Würde ich bezweifeln. Ich glaube der Kunde hat eine Bereitschaft eine bestimmte Summe zu
bezahlen, wie er daran kommt, macht keinen Unterschied.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet? Ja
Welche anderen Faktoren können Einfluss auf den Referenzpreis haben?
Mit Sicherheit die Produktelemente. Wie flexibel ist das Produkt, kann ich es zurückgeben oder
was kostet eine Umbuchung beispielsweise. Bestandteile wie Gepäck inklusive. Diese
Unterscheidungen machen die Airlines in den Fare Families.
Gibt es eine Kaufsituation bei der der Referenzpreis keinen Einfluss auf die Entscheidung
hat?
Naja ich sage mal, es gibt ein Kundensegment, die sind unsensibel was den Preis angeht. Als
Consultant mit wichtigem Kundentermin bin ich bereit jeden Preis zu zahlen um am Ziel zur
richtigen Zeit anzukommen.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen?
Der Kunde nutzt die zusätzlichen Informationen die das Internet ihm bieten. Einerseits haben sie
Portale, die den Vergleich machen. Diese Portale nehmen Arbeit ab. Andererseits ist natürlich die
Frage, wie sehr vertraue ich den Portalen. Da kann es Sinn machen eigenständig weiter zu suchen.
Hat Transparenz einen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Fairness eines Konsumenten?
Ich sag mal so, Transparenz im Sinne: es ist von vornerein geklärt welche Bestandteile umfasst das
Produkt und es ist geklärt, dass der Preis sich ändern kann. Es ist nicht immer insofern transparent,
dass ich die Entwicklung in der Zukunft nicht kenne.
Und welche Konsequenzen hat (Un-) Fairness für die Beziehung zwischen Kunde und
Unternehmen?
Wenn mir das passiert und ich habe ein ungutes Gefühl, dann sammelt sich das an und irgendwann
habe ich keine Lust mehr auf dieses Unternehmen. Das Unternehmen verliert damit auch die
Seriosität.
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness to pay eines
Konsumenten?
Nein glaube ich eher nicht.
Welche weiteren Faktoren haben Ihrer Meinung nach einen Einfluss auf die willingness to
pay?
Das sind im Grunde die Elemente, was der Kunde braucht. Beispielsweise eine
Umbuchungsmöglichkeit. Brauche ich Verpflegung, brauche ich Internetverfügbarkeit. Das
definiert letztendlich die Preisbereitschaft.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen Transparenz als Vorteil nutzen?
Es ist wichtig, dass die Unternehmen klar kommunizieren, was die Vorteile und Risiken der
Produkte oder Services sind. Wenn der Kunde alles weiß, dann ist es fair.
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind?
99
Definitiv, ja. In der Wesentlichen Geschwindigkeit mit der ich Dinge in den Markt stellen kann,
seien es Preisveränderungen oder andere Spielregeln. Außerdem ist man sehr flexibel und kann
sehr gut das Kundenverhalten nachvollziehen. Bis zu welchem Schritt des Kaufprozesses geht der
Kunde und wann steigt er aus.
Sind Sie der Meinung dass die größten Nachteile die erhöhte Transparenz für Kunden und
die Gefahr von Arbitrage sind?
Eben, er hat die gleichen Informationen. Das ist auch im Wechselspiel zwischen zwei
Unternehmen wichtig. Wie gut ist mein Yield Management und wie gut ist das der anderen. Wenn
beide es sehr gut beherrschen, kann man das Marktniveau nach oben steigern. Falls er das nicht
beherrscht, dann kann es zu einer nach unten führenden Preisspirale führen.
Glauben Sie, dass die Vorteile von Transparenz die Nachteile überwiegen?
Ja absolut.
Für welche Situation/Industrie/Produkt könnte dies nicht der Fall sein?
Fallen mir spontan die Fernbusse ein, die machen das noch nicht so gut.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Ja absolut, Ich würde das eher als Nebeneffekt einsortieren.
Ich glaube eher, dass wir in einem Trend sind, der sich dahin entwickelt, dass solche
Zwischenhändler es zunehmend schwieriger haben. Ich glaube die großen Konzerne werden dahin
kommen, dass sie die eigenen Produkte über das Internet selbst vermarkten. Wenn eine Airline nur
einen Bruchteil der Marge verdient, dann liegt das nicht mehr im Verhältnis zu den Ausgaben.
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern?
Ja absolut.
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Würde ich tendenziell vorsichtlich sein mit der Behauptung. Aus eigener Erfahrung mit den
Branchen mit denen ich arbeite (Kreuzfahrten, Luftfahrt), wird das noch nicht sonderlich genutzt.
Ich wüsste nicht, dass es das bereits in großem Detailgrad gibt. Sie arbeiten dran, aber momentan
gibt es das glaube ich nicht. Warum verschiedene Preis verlangt werden, das weiß man ja nicht.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Ja. Wenn ich ein Produkt sehe bei dem es egal ist ob ich es heute kaufe oder nächste Woche, dann
funktioniert das nicht.
Welche Vorteile hat das Unternehmen durch dynamic pricing? Wenn sie es richtig machen, mehr Umsatz und mehr Marge, denn es kostet ja nicht viel, das richtig
zu machen. Um den gleichen Effekt auf der Kostenseite zu haben, muss man deutlich mehr Mühe
investieren. Damit versucht man eben den höchsten Preis zu finden, den der Kunde akzeptiert.
Ist dynamic pricing die Zukunft der Preispolitik?
Ich glaube das wird sich ständig weiterentwickeln.
Glauben Sie, dass der Konsument insoweit beeinflusst werden kann, dass es mehr
Möglichkeiten für dynamic pricing geben könnte?
Da ist eine immer weitergehende Entwicklung. IT wird immer schneller größere Datenmengen
verarbeiten können. Das lässt sich nicht zurückdrehen.
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Es sind einmal die kosten und zum anderen die Geschwindigkeit, denn offline müsste man es
beispielsweise über Papier verteilen.
Welche Herausforderungen bestehen bei der Implementierung von dynamic pricing?
100
Man muss herausfinden, was kommt beim Kunden an und was nicht. Wenn ich nicht weiß was der
Kunde will oder der Wettbewerber macht, dann kann ich schnell Geld verlieren. Die
Zahlungsbereitschaft der Kunden zu kennen ist sehr wichtig.
Welche Auswirkungen hat diese Art von Pricing auf das Marketing im Allgemeinen?
Man muss sich darauf konzentrieren, die Stärke und Vorteile der Marke zu kommunizieren. Das
Marketing muss die Menschen von der Marke begeistern. Das Pricing sorgt dann dafür, den
richtigen Preis anzubieten, damit auch gekauft werden will.
Sollte jedes Unternehmen danach streben, dynamic pricing zu nutzen? Alle mit den Kriterien:
vergängliches Produkt, Reservierung. Ich glaube ein Unternehmen, das das nicht nutzt hat keine
anhaltende Chance zu überleben.
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken? (Produkte, Industrien,
Plattformen?) Eine von vielen Varianten, wie man eine Preisbereitschaft ermitteln kann.
Letztendlich denke ich an die Beispiele; ich bin flexibel im Preis und dafür muss der Kunde in
anderen Bereichen flexibel sein. Es gibt bestimmte Preispunkte, wenn ich den in den Markt stelle
kriege ich meinen Markt voll. Diese Preispunkte kann ich über diese Modelle sehr gut
herausfinden. Wenn Transparenz herrscht und Kunden die Unterschiede in den Preisen finden,
dann gibt es keinen Ärger, weil der Konsument den Preis selbst bestimmt und sich nicht
beschweren kann.
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Es ist ein sehr simpler Weg.
Glauben Sie der Erfolg von NYOP liegt daran, dass Konsumenten den Preis selbst
bestimmen dürfen und nicht an die Angaben eines Unternehmens gebunden sind?
Ja und das hat verschiedene Komponente. Ich als Unternehmen lerne die Preisbereitschaft aber das
andere ist die Fairness, denn als Kunde hat man sich bewusst entschieden.
Funktioniert dieses Prinzip mit jedem vergänglichen Produkt? Ja
Wie kann ein Unternehmen einen positiven Einfluss auf den Konsumenten ausüben? Ich weiß nicht ob man die Bereitschaft erhöhen kann, aber man kann Kapazität erhöhen, wo sie
nicht ausreichend besteht, bei Tageszeiten/Jahreszeiten/Destinationen.
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Aus persönlicher Einschätzung, bin ich bei sowas eher skeptisch. Man merkt es im Internet: Man
wird zugeschüttet und es gibt kaum etwas, bei dem es keinen Coupon gibt. Wenn ich alles nutzen
wollte, müsste ich sehr viel Zeit investieren. Es gibt Leute, die machen einen Sport daraus, ich
gehöre es nicht dazu.
Welche Art von Konsument nutzt die Vorteile von Coupons bewusst?
Ein Preissensibler, der auf die Jagd geht. Er kauft auch Dinge, die er nicht braucht, aber er hatte
einen Coupon dafür.
Sind dynamische Coupons die bessere Alternative?
Ich bin kein großer Freund von Coupons, wenn ich 10 Mails bekomme, dann ist das unbestellte
Werbung.
Was würden Sie einem Unternehmen raten?
Ich habe das bisher nicht empfohlen.
Appendix 7 - Interview Tim Brzoska
Was hat sich in der Preispolitik der letzten Jahre geändert?
Gefühlt machen sich immer mehr Formen Gedanken um Pricing weil sie merken, dass sie auf
anderen Hebeln schon viel gemacht haben und da keine Potentiale sehen. Daher rückt der Fokus
immer mehr auf Pricing. Daher werden die Arten, wie man das Pricing angeht immer
professioneller und differenzierter. Nur noch einen Preis anzugeben und zu sagen: „Friss oder
Stirb“ wird immer seltener. Es wird auch immer mehr geschaut, wie man Zahlungsbereitschaft
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durch differenziertes Pricing abschöpfen kann. Das ist immer mehr das Ziel, das Unternehmen
haben. Außerdem wird wichtiger, eine gewisse Konsistenz ins Pricing zu bekommen, da der Preis
am Ende auch einen Einfluss auf das Marken-Image hat. Wenn man nicht konsistent arbeitet, kann
man viele Kunden verlieren und das Image schädigen.
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet?
Ja und Nein. Ja, rein technisch gesehen hat man viel mehr Möglichkeiten, den Kunden gezielter
anzusprechen, weil man gezieltere Informationen über den Kunden hat und es technisch besser
funktioniert, Preise zu ändern. Die Herausforderung ist, dass auch mehr Transparenz herrscht, das
heißt eine große Herausforderung im Handel – früher wusste man nicht, was ein Elektronik
Händler in München für Preise nimmt und das war egal, weil man in Köln gekauft hat. Heute geht
man ins Internet und geht da zu einem Elektronikhändler und wenn man im Internet einen Preis
sieht und er ist nicht der gleiche, wie wenn ich in einen Laden gehe, dann wundere ich mich schon.
Das ist die Herausforderung, die durch das Internet vor allem bei den Konsumgüter-Händlern
besteht. Es wird immer schwieriger, Preisdifferenzierung über Kanäle zu betreiben. Außerdem ist
durch das Internet der Kunde nur einen Klick vom nächsten Händler entfernt und in
Preissuchmaschinen kann ich Produkte und Preise vergleichen – dadurch wird
Preisdifferenzierung erschwert.
Nach welchen Kriterien würden Sie Preis differenzieren? Die besten Möglichkeiten sind Fencing, also wenn ich klar abgrenzen kann warum Preise
unterschiedlich sind. Im Dienstleistungsbereich gibt es Studenten-Rabatte, das kann man leicht
nachprüfen und andere Kunden verstehen, warum Studenten ein bisschen weniger bezahlen. Wenn
der Kunde nicht mehr versteht, warum man Preise differenziert ist es ein Problem. Es muss klipp
und klar sein, warum die Preise sich unterscheiden – es muss einen Mehrwert im Geschäft
darstellen – eine gute Beratung, ein guter Laden. Warum sollte ich auch sonst andere Preise
bezahlen?
Wenn man diese Erklärung nicht hat, wird es schwierig, vor allem wenn die Preise transparent
sind. Beim Fliegen hat jeder einen anderen Preis bezahlt, weiß aber niemand also interessiert es
keinen. Wenn ich aber einen teuren Fernseher morgens kaufe, den dann abends oder im Internet
billiger sehe, dann bin ich nicht zufrieden.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet?
Ich glaube schon, dass sich mittlerweile der Gedanke verfestigt hat, dass man es online günstiger
bekommt. Man erwartet das ein bisschen. Obwohl ich glaube, der Mehrwert online ist größer als in
Läden, weil die convenience größer ist. Online konnte man immer günstiger anbieten, weil sie
geringere Kostenstrukturen haben. Die haben verpasst zu erkennen, dass ihr Kanal mehr Wert für
den Kunden darstellt. Das ist vorbei, dementsprechend hat sich das verfestigt.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet?
Ich weiß nur, dass sich in anderen Ländern das Thema online Handel schon stärker durchgesetzt
hat, weil die Kunden bereit sind, dort im Internet mehr zu bezahlen. Ich weiß nur nicht ob das eine
kulturelle Geschichte ist oder eher die Tatsache, dass man in Deutschland überall Discounter hat.
Ob das kulturell oder marktbezogen ist kann ich nicht sagen.
Wie kann ein Unternehmen den Referenzpreis beeinflussen?
Indem ich mein Angebot entsprechend gestalte. Umso höherwertiger das Produkt, desto höher die
Zahlungsbereitschaft. Auch über die Zusammenstellung kann ich das steuern. Wenn ich einen
hohen Preis-Anker stelle, ist der Kunde bereit mehr für andere Produkte zu bezahlen. Im
Discounter sehen Sie oft Reisen angeboten, warum machen die das? Wenn man einen hohen
Preispunkt sieht, dann wirkt alles drum herum billiger. Da gibt es Preispsychologische Tricks, die
man anwenden kann. Man kann auch einen selektiven Vertrieb nutzen um die
Zahlungsbereitschaft zu steigern. Der Preis kann auch als Indikator für Qualität genutzt werden,
das wird viel in der Luxus-Industrie gemacht, da gibt es teilweise inverse Preis-Absatz-
Funktionen, das heißt je teurer das Produkt, desto mehr wird es verkauft. Da gibt es sehr viele
Möglichkeiten. Natürlich ist auch das Produkt an sich sehr wichtig.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass eine höhere Online Transparenz dazu führt, dass Konsumenten
mehr Zeit mit der Suche nach Preis-Informationen verbringen?
Ich glaube schon, viel mehr als früher. Das hängt stark von dem Produkt ab. Da gibt es
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verschiedene Dimensionen, die das beeinflussen. Wie viel investiere ich, wie stark bin ich
emotional involviert – wie wichtig ist das Produkt. Beispielsweise Kleidung – damit stelle ich
mich dar, aber ich suche nach Preisen. Aber bei Kleidung ist der Vergleich eher schwierig, weil sie
sich schwierig vergleichen lässt. Ist es ein Impulsgut oder ein Plankauf, auch das spielt eine Rolle.
Wie viele Entscheider sind involviert, das beeinflusst die Suche ebenfalls. Es kommt natürlich
auch darauf an, wie oft man ein Produkt kauft.
Haben Kosten- und Preistransparenz einen direkten Einfluss auf die willingness to pay eines
Konsumenten?
In gewissen Bereichen auf jeden Fall. Sowohl nach oben als auch nach oben. Transparenz auf der
Preisseite bedeutet oft auch mehr Transparenz auf der Qualitätsseite. Wenn ein Produkt gut ist, bin
ich auch bereit mehr zu zahlen.
Denken Sie dass die größten Vorteile von Transparenz die neuen Möglichkeiten der
Preispolitik und Marktforschung/Big Data sind?
Der Vorteil ist natürlich, dass ich eine viel größere Kundengruppe ansprechen kann. Das ist glaube
ich der größte Vorteil. Den Vorteil kann nicht jeder nutzen, weil das Internetverhalten sehr
eingeschränkt ist. Es gibt nur noch einige wenige Startseiten auf die der Kunde sucht. Wenn ich da
nicht bin, dann bringt mir das Internet auch nichts. Das Internet bringt mir nur was, wenn ich es
schaffe, im relevanten Set des Kunden zu sein. Man kann auf Plattformen aktiv werden, aber da
kann ich mich nur über Preis profilieren.
Ansonsten, wenn ich Kunden habe, dann weiß ich viel mehr über sie. Wenn ich die Informationen
richtig auswerte, dann kann ich den Kunden auch gezielt ansprechen. Das können nicht viele, denn
die Datenanalyse ist sehr komplex. Spielwarenhändler haben ein starkes Problem, in Läden ihren
Mehrwert darzustellen und im Internet gibt es nur wenige Händler, die das vertreiben. So
jemandem empfehle ich, zu schauen, wie er seinen Zielkunden aufgreifen kann. Auch für
Hersteller ist das Internet ein gewisses Risiko, weil sie die Vermarktung nicht mehr zu 100%
steuern können. Das kann auch zu Markenschädigung führen.
Sind Sie der Meinung dass die größten Nachteile die erhöhte Transparenz für Kunden und
die Gefahr von Arbitrage sind?
Das ist ein Riesenproblem.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Das Internet macht es einfacher, Produkte im Ausland zu bestellen. Daher ist das Risiko größer
als in der Vergangenheit. Auch durch die Währungsschwankungen in der Welt. Das ist auch auf
der B2B Seite so, gerade bei Großhändlern, die im Internet agieren.
Wie kann Marketing im Allgemeinen Arbitrage entgegen wirken?
Was kann man gegen Arbitrage machen? Man sollte immer im Blick haben, dass die
Zahlungsbereitschaft im eigenen Land und in anderen Ländern. Wer profitiert von Arbitrage? Man
kann die Händlerpreise nicht direkt beeinflussen. Man kann das also nur über Listenpreise und
Konditionen machen, sodass extreme Preisunterschiede nicht vorkommen.
Wird dynamic pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Zum einen muss es transparent sein, dass er es überhaupt merkt. Wenn es dann keine Erklärung
gibt, dann ist es schlecht. Es gibt immer mehr elektronische Preisschilder – es gilt die Frage: Kann
ich das innerhalb eines Tages ändern? Eher nein, denn sonst kann es sein dass der Kunde es direkt
merkt. Das ist im Laden. Im Internet kann es schon mal passieren dass morgens und abends die
Preise unterschiedlich sind. Das wirkt nicht so unfair, denn man ist gewohnt, dass es dynamisch
ist. Wenn man aufgrund persönlicher Eigenschaften, zum Beispiel ob ich ein iPad oder ein anderes
Tablet benutze, im Preis differenziert wäre, dann wäre ich zickig.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Auf jeden Fall. Knappheit. Das funktioniert aber auch bei Produkten mit hohen Fixkosten und
geringen Variablen Kosten. Aus Konsumentensicht versteht jeder, dass bei Knappheit ein Produkt
teurer wird. Das kann man erklären. Bestimmte Mechanismen sind vom Konsumenten erlernt.
Welche Vorteile hat das Unternehmen durch dynamic pricing?
Man kann Zahlungsbereitschaft abschöpfen. Und man kann die Kapazitäten ausnutzen.
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Ist dynamic pricing die Zukunft der Preispolitik?
Ich glaube es wird dynamic pricing immer geben. Wenn Unternehmen schlau sind, werden sie es
nutzen. Man muss es nur schlau nutzen. Der Konsument darf sich nicht ausgenutzt fühlen. Es gab
mal Getränkeautomaten, bei denen war die Preissteuerung über die Außentemperatur gesteuert. Je
wärmer es wurde, desto teurer wurden die Getränke. Das kam nicht gut an.
Stimmen Sie zu, dass dynamic pricing nur über Online Kanäle möglich ist, da die Kosten bei
Offline Kanälen zu hoch sind?
Nein ich stimme nicht zu. Es wird dynamic pricing überall geben.
Welche Herausforderungen bestehen bei der Implementierung von dynamic pricing?
Die große Herausforderung ist, dass vernünftig auszusteuern. Genau zu wissen, wann ich welche
Preise nehmen kann.
Was ist das erste, an das Sie bei NYOP Transaktionen denken? (Produkte, Industrien,
Plattformen?)
Dass es nicht funktioniert – jedenfalls nicht, wenn der Kunde das nicht öffentlich machen muss.
Ohne Peer Pressure und ein klares Bild zur Kostensituation funktioniert es nicht. Oft machen das
Restaurants.
Ist NYOP der einfachste Weg, um willingness to pay einzufangen?
Aus meiner Sicht nicht. Die Leute haben zu wenige Preisanker.
Glauben Sie, dass der Großteil der Konsumenten die Vorteile von Coupons nutzt?
Sehr geringe Einlösquoten. Das muss nicht allgemein heißen, dass wenig genutzt wird, man wird
oft einfach überschüttet.
Sind dynamische Coupons die bessere Alternative? Was würden Sie einem Unternehmen
raten?
Ja absolut. Damit kann man die Bedürfnisse des Kunden besser ansprechen.
Appendix 8 - Interview Irene van der Wal
Do you think the internet actually offers new ways of price discrimination?
Not so much new ways, but more ways for a supplier to offer prices
Do you believe that reference prices differ between offline and online channels?
No, not really
Do you believe that reference prices differ between different cultures?
Not so much cultures, but it can differ per countries/regions
Can you imagine a situation where the reference price of a product has no influence on the
decision process?
Yes, I can imagine situations that UVP is not taken into account for a buying decision of a
customer. For instance if a customer really wants to have a specific product I believe he/she is
much more interested in the actual price he/she has to pay.
What ways of influence does a company have on the reference price?
A manufacturer can set/influence the UVP but the suppliers/resellers define the actual price.
Manufactures can communicate UVPs online on their website and to their
distribution/reseller/retail channels.
Do you believe that more online transparency influences people to spend more time looking
for price information?
I don’t think that pricing online is at all transparent. Prices changes depending on time or even
sometimes on your profile or internet buying/searching behavior. There are also many suppliers
offering the same or similar products which creates more different prices. I do believe though that
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people spend more time to find a good price for them online, but mainly for products that do not
belong to your daily needs.
For which kind of product do people spend more time looking on the internet?
For products that do not cover their daily needs, like IT equipment, vacations, Flight tickets/hotels,
household/garden utilities, clothes…
Do you believe that transparency influences the perception of fairness?
It might be the case if it was really transparent… but at the moment I do not believe that the online
pricing processes help to create a sense of fairness… it might be even the opposite… offers
nowadays can be customized for each individual which does not provide a customer with a sense
of fairness or equal treatment.
Does transparency have an influence on the willingness to pay?
Yes I think that real transparency can help a customer to accept a certain price.
What other factors have influence on willingness to pay?
The customer needs to be able to effort the price, other factors are the quality of the products and
the service of the supplier/manufacturer. Also exclusivity of a product can have an influence.
What are the advantages of internet transparency for companies? Do you consider new
pricing possibilities and better consumer knowledge as the main advantages?
If with companies the manufacturers are meant then I am not so sure what the real advantages are
other than that it can reach more customers, which you otherwise might not have reached… for
Suppliers/Resellers the advantage is that they can differentiate pricing for different customers
(groups).
Do you believe that the main disadvantages are the increased transparency, especially in
terms of arbitrage risks?
It is not so much the pricing transparency online that provides more cross border shipments, but
more the fact that customers and traders/brokers have more access to information of other
countries suppliers/resellers to compare prices and order online. For a manufacturer anther
disadvantage I see is price erosion.
Do you think that the overall advantages are greater than the disadvantages? Do you know of
any situation where this might not be the case? Industries, products? Give an example.
Difficult to say, depends also if you are manufacturer or supplier/reseller and where you are in the
distribution chain… it for sure is much more complex…
Do you think the internet has actively increased the risk of arbitrage?
Yes it brought the possibility also to a normal customer, where in the past such activities were
much more driven by traders/brokers.
Are there certain products for which arbitrage is more likely than for others? Which
industries are more affected than others?
Yes consumables for products, but also books/cd/dvd and clothing & accessories, small utilities…
In your opinion, do access to markets, decreasing transportation costs and free trade zones
decrease the cost of arbitrage?
The accessibility has increased… it is something now that everyone can do.
How can marketing work against arbitrage?
Creating products / value propositions for only specific markets or cultures/countries.
Do you think that dynamic pricing is generally considered an unfair pricing technique by the
consumer?
It can go 2 ways… consumers that are willing to invest the time to wait for the cheapest offer will
like the dynamic pricing method. Consumers that can’t invest that time will feel that they are not
treated equally and have the feeling that they always pay a high price…
Do you think that dynamic pricing works rather with perishable goods than non-perishable
goods?
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In theory I think it should work better with perishable goods, but if you look at flight tickets it also
seem to work for non-perishable goods.
Do you consider dynamic pricing to be important for the future or is it merely a trend?
I don’t think it is a trend, it will continue to play a role to match supply and demand.
Do you think that individual pricing can only be realized in online channels because
implementation in offline channels is too costly?
I think it can also be offered in offline channels… I even believe that that happens already in a
different. Look at bazars where you can negotiate the price, this is also done in offline channels.
What are the greatest challenges for companies concerning the implementation of dynamic
pricing?
Collecting data points of customers and competitor supplies in the area to differentiate price;
ensure that with offering different prices sustain profitable enough and have the right tools to
measure that.
Do you believe that NYOP transactions are the easiest way to capture the consumers’
willingness to pay? Yes
Is NYOP successful because the consumer determines the price himself and therefore feels a
higher sense of fairness?
It is not the sense of fairness, but more how much a consumer can pay and is willing to pay for a
type of product. If the consumer finds out that he/she has paid much more in the end then the
neighbour this can then also end up in feelings of unfair treatment…
Do you believe that the majority of consumers takes advantage of coupons? No
Do you think that dynamic coupons (individual coupons depending on the shopping behavior
of the consumer) make more sense than traditional ones?
It can provide more focus to only offer coupons a consumer is interested in, and increase the usage
Appendix 9 - Interview José Francisco Guzmán Tanikawa
What are the major changes that occurred in pricing over recent years?
Internet represents a great change that affects pricing, because it makes the decision process much
faster. People can check prices easily, so markets are more sensible to prices now than before the
internet era. Also globalization is a trend that has affected pricing, because competition in these
days is worldwide, so now you can compete in different markets and vice versa.
In general, what kind of pricing should companies do?
Unfortunately, most companies have cost driven or profit driven pricing strategies; those strategies
fails to know the perceived value of the brand by the target market and in consequence, companies
fail to translate that value into the product price and that creates a “bump” in the marketing mix.
Do you think the internet actually offers new ways of price discrimination?
The internet by itself doesn’t do that, price discrimination is achieved when you find different
targets that have different price sensitivities or that assign a different value to a same product.
Internet offers you the possibility to access those different markets, but you first need to identify
them and observe if there is a difference between price sensitivity.
What kind of new methods do you know about? Which kind of price discrimination would
you recommend for to a company?
I think that there is no best/worst strategy for price discrimination. The trick is to find the
difference between the targets, that’s the tough question. How do I do the segmentation in order to
find different responses to price? When you find the segments, it is easiest to know how you are
going to do the price discrimination.
Do you believe that reference prices differ between offline and online channels? Do you
believe that reference prices differ between different cultures?
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Yes, but the odds of existing reference prices are different between them. In an online market,
reference price is almost a must. You can easily have a reference price, just going to another
website of a different store or provider. In offline channels, you need to do the job, and go store by
store doing that. Some consumers are not willing to do that, so they are not going to have a
reference price or an “accurate” reference price. Looking for this differences among cultures it is a
little more difficult. I don’t think that the culture by itself could be a more significant driver than
the off/online one.
Which other factors have influence on reference prices? Does this, in your opinion, hold for
all kinds of products?
Well, I think the more price sensibility, the more probable is a high influence of the reference
price. Also in a product of high involvement, in which you need to be sure about the decision that
you are going to make, a reference price is important. Also in products that communicate luxury, it
is important to have a reference price, because if you don’t have it, you don’t know if you are
communicating right.
Can you imagine a situation where the reference price of a product has no influence on the
decision process?
Commodities perhaps, or products with low involvement in which you are willing to give it a try,
the reference price is not that important. Anyway, you always have a reference price or at least a
floor and a roof of how much you are willing to spend on that product, in the end, it has the same
purpose.
What ways of influence does a company have on the reference price?
Depends of the leadership they have in the market. Generally the leader in the market sets the
reference price of the category. Sometimes challengers create new categories or subcategories of
products, and the reference price is a part of the architecture of that new category.
Do you believe that more online transparency influences people to spend more time looking
for price information? It depends how important the decision it is to you. The involvement in the
decision is crucial in order to know the amount of information the customer is willing to have. If
you have a low involvement product like a soap, consumers are not willing to handle a lot of
information but for an insurance or a car, they will be.
What are the main changes that arise with the internet for consumers?
Faster decisions, a broad amount of SKUs to choose, a lot of information to handle
(manufacturers, users recommendations, critics from specialized media, etc.)
What are the consequences of higher transparency?
The more transparency, the pickier the consumer will be about misleading perceptions but on the
other hand, it can boost confidence for a company.
For which kind of product do people spend more time looking on the internet? Do only certain
kind of people look for information?
Of course that depends on the segment itself. A millennial will be much more willing to invest
time looking on the internet than a baby boomer. But even between millennials, there are different
segments and interest between them.
Do you believe that transparency influences the perception of fairness because consumers
can build up their knowledge and experience?
If they have the enough knowledge to “understand that transparency” I think that yes. But if not, it
can mislead an inexpert consumer. For instance, for a mechanical engineer, it’s quite important to
know the details of the car they are buying and have transparency of the costs of the vehicle, but
for “John Smith” perhaps it will be too much information and he would create his own conclusions
that could be wrong or at least different, just because you are giving them that information.
How does the consumer react to transparency?
Hard to know. I think that if a consumer is not expecting or demanding the transparency, he could
not react the way we are looking for.
What other factors have influence on fairness perception?
Brand equity it is a big factor that have a great influence of fairness perception.
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Which consequences does the feeling of fairness or unfairness have for the
customer/company relationship?
It depends of the amount of options that the consumer has and also the variance of fairness
perception that the consumer has from the competition. For example, you can have a great feeling
of unfairness with the company, but it is the only company that provides you that product or
service or, that perception is equal with other companies, then the consequences are low or null.
Also it depends on the loyalty between consumer and company; if a loyal consumer feels an unfair
relation with the company, their reaction will be stronger against the company that if he is a brand
switcher or if he has a low brand equity of that brand.
How can a company influence the fairness perception of a consumer?
Constructing a strong brand equity and a big loyalty can create a fairness perception of the deal.
Also positive “real” comments in social media can create a fairness perception very fast.
Does transparency have an influence on the willingness to pay?
I think that it has, but there are other factors that could be more important like the competence
reaction or the consumer trends and behaviours.
What other factors have influence on willingness to pay?
Consumer segment behavior, competence (reaction and actual), external variables (like economics
or even the weather; you are more willing to pay a higher price for a coffee when it is cold than
when it is hot).
Does this apply to all consumers or are there differences?
No, there are differences; it depends on the market segment. That is precisely what a willingness to
pay model should find.
How can companies use price transparency to their advantage?
First of all, the transparency by itself should give them an advantage; 2nd, the issue by itself should
be relevant for the target market; 3rd, competence should be unable to take advantage by the
transparency effect.
What are the advantages of internet transparency for companies? Do you see new pricing
possibilities and better consumer knowledge as the main advantages? If not, what are the
most important advantages?
Of course, the best advantage is knowledge, which is power for the consumer. The trick is to use
that knowledge in favour of the company.
Do you believe that the main disadvantages are the increased transparency, especially in
terms of arbitrage risks? What other disadvantages can you imagine? Do these differ with
industries? Arbitrage and cannibalism are always risks in these strategies. People should take
advantage of the transparency and make an additional gain if they know how to exploit the gap
that they have found. Or other consumers will shift their behaviours and buy similar or other
products that give the same value and are a better price option (if the company has a portfolio with
different SKUs)
Do you think that the overall advantages are greater than the disadvantages?
I think that it depends how you deploy the strategy. If you are careless with the execution of the
strategy and you don’t create barriers or controls to mitigate or decrease the arbitrage, the loss
could be more than the gain.
Do you think the internet has actively increased the risk of arbitrage?
Mhhh… perhaps it has increased the perception of the opportunity, but internet by itself doesn’t
provides the tool to take advantage, because the go-to market cost of the internet is significant
lower that the one of the person or company that can take advantage of the revenue. Of course, he
can deploy products to people that are out of range of the internet by himself, but it’s a little more
complicated to take advantage of the opportunity than in traditional retailer marketing.
Which other effect does the internet have on arbitrage?
I think that it doesn’t have a great effect, because internet could reach everybody. Perhaps if
people don’t have a way to pay online (credit card, PayPal account, etc.), it could represent an
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opportunity for them. Another thing is, that the product is not available for a country with the
original internet seller for some or all consumers and you can make the product available to them.
Are there certain products for which arbitrage is more likely than for others? Which
industries are more affected than others?
The higher the amount of sales of a product with more retailers in the distribution channel, the
greater the risk or arbitrage (if you applied, of course, price discrimination strategies).
That is because it is much more complicated for you to notice the arbitrage with a lot of retailers,
that with a few of them.
In your opinion, do access to markets, decreasing transportation costs and growing free
trade zones decrease the cost of arbitrage?
It can help to promote arbitrage, but the most important thing it is that both parts can take profit
from the situation. Of course that all of this factors could help, but if there is not a big gap between
the two markets or regions in which the arbitrage it’s done and price sensitivity (or brand equity)
it’s also quite different, the reductions in costs are not enough.
How do companies protect themselves from arbitrage?
The most obvious is to not create a price gap so big, that it could motivate arbitrage. Other options
could be to reduce the amount of merchandise that a client can buy, having different codes
products for different markets (so you at least could know that you have been affected by
arbitrage) and really good overview of the retailers (suddenly a retailer is selling a lot of products,
but other retailers in other regions have a considerable reduction in their sales or the consumer
even quits buying and buys from a wholesaler or somebody else).
How can marketing work against arbitrage?
Sometimes a diverse portfolio could work, regional brands with strong brand equity could work
against arbitrage. Perhaps you can sell the same product in different markets, but with different
brands that have and strong local brand equity.
Do you think that dynamic pricing is generally considered an unfair pricing technique by the
consumer? What is the most likely reaction of the consumer?
If the price should be driven by the value that a consumer (or a segment of consumers) are giving
to a product, then dynamic pricing is very fair. The problem it is that the value that a target of
consumers gives to a product is different to other, so the perception to price is different. The fair or
unfair concept depends of which consumer segment is buying the product. And also, that
perception of value could change from one day to another in the same segment; so that is the
backbone of dynamic pricing.
What are possible consequences of dynamic pricing? How would you go to avert the
risks/negative consequences or change the consumers mind?
The trick is that you can identify patterns or variables that could, with some degree of accuracy,
pinpoint a segment of consumers from another. Airlines fares do that. A business traveller is
willing to pay more for the same ticket that a leisure traveller. Leisure travellers generally buy
their tickets earlier (1 or 2 months) than business travellers (1 week or some days before). The
main goal of dynamic pricing is the same as with revenue management; to take out the more value
from the market, but if you don’t identify the variables that can trigger the different behavior and
value from the market, then perhaps you can lose revenue or the income of a company.
Do you know of famous examples of dynamic pricing that may or may not have been
successful? Why?
All the travel industry it’s full of successful implementation of dynamic pricing. Here you also
have Revenue Management, that add some interesting features, because the services that are sold
are perishable and you cannot stock them, so that adds more complexity to the equation. But
American Airlines provided a good example in the 80s, of a successful implementation of the
principles of dynamic pricing. If the value of the product doesn’t change between time and some
observables variables between different targets, then dynamic pricing it’s more difficult to have
success. If you are going to sell ice cream in a cold weather, it doesn’t mind how much you shift
prices, the demand of that product is not very willing to change because of that.
Can you imagine any products where individual prices are accepted by the consumer?
109
You mean that the product is sold by unit and not by group or package? If that´s the main topic, it
depends on the average transaction size that the product has in that market or retailer. For instance,
individual portions of shampoo wouldn’t work in a store like Costco or Sam’s, but it could work
on an airport quick store or a convenience store in a highway.
Do you think that dynamic pricing works rather with perishable goods than non-perishable
goods?
It has more probability to increase or decrease the value in perishable goods and because of that,
dynamic pricing could be better, but is not a rule. For example, you can change the price of a
sweater or an umbrella depending of the weather condition.
How can a company take advantage of dynamic pricing?
As I said before, the trick is to identify the variables that could tell us the different segments with
different values perceptions and also the behavior of those segments. An incorrect segmentation
could lead a company to an unsuccessful dynamic pricing strategy.
Do you consider dynamic pricing to be important for the future or is it merely a trend?
It is not a trend, it is somehow new, but since the patterns and behaviours of customers remain in
the same way, dynamic pricing will be a good pricing tool.
Do you think that consumers change enough for more individual pricing techniques to
become possible?
Human beings like habits, and habits and patterns are difficult to modify, but not impossible. Of
course, there are segments of consumers easier to modify them than others. I think that a good
marketing campaign, which triggers a behavior in the customer can do that.
Do you think that individual pricing can only be realized in online channels because
implementation in offline channels is too costly?
Well, indeed it’s more complicated the implementation of individual pricing in offline than in
online, so in most of the situations, costs related with implementation in offline could overshadow
the benefits of it.
What are the main cost factors that cause the differences in costs?
Market costs and the business model. What´s the cost of an eBook that is downloaded to your
mobile device? What´s the cost of a paper book that you buy in a bookstore? It is not only the go
to market cost, also production cost it’s far different from one choice to another. And besides that,
the perceived value of buying to eBook anytime you want it, besides the “buying cost” of going to
the bookstore and buying it is important. Of course, for some customer segment, buying an eBook
is not an option, no matter the price of it (because they don’t have a mobile device, because they
prefer paper, because they don’t have a credit card or something to buy the book on line. etc.)
What are the greatest challenges for companies concerning the implementation of dynamic
pricing?
Again, a correct segmentation, a good trigger of the drivers that can identify those segments and
the tools to know the value perception of each segment its critical. Also a correct implementation
of the strategy it is very important.
Would you recommend a company to pursue dynamic pricing? What would dynamic pricing
indicate for marketing in general? What other marketing measures would have to be implemented?
If the company can take advantages of it, and have the resources; of course they should go. But if
you are in markets that are not so dynamic or that there are not visible differences between values
(commodities), it’s not worth its value.
Do you believe that NYOP transactions are the easiest way to capture the consumers’
willingness to pay?
If you remove the brand equity factor… yes, because it will measure just the price sensitivity to
the product that it is sell, but you can analyse the benefits from the product because generally, you
don’t know the brand or supplier of whatever you are bidding. The problem is that you don’t do
this in real life, generally the price value is associated with the brand, so you can make a judgment
if the price of that brand reflects the value of the brand.
With which kind of products does NYOP work?
110
More than products, its consumers with strong brand equity influence. Would you imagine a fancy
purse with this strategy? What price would you suggest for the purse if you don’t know the brand?
What is the first thing that comes to your mind about NYOP transactions (products,
platforms, industries, cases, etc.)? Can you think of any other techniques that work
similarly?
Technique by itself reminds me how things could work in B2B or with government tenders.
Is NYOP successful because the consumer determines the price himself and therefore feels a
higher sense of fairness?
Perhaps, risk adverse consumers could favour this strategy.
Does this work with all products? How can a company positively influence this process?
I don’t think that this strategy work for every product. Mass consumption products or high brand
equity products are not going to work well with this technique.
Do you believe that the majority of consumers takes advantage of coupons?
Not all of them. Consumers with high price sensitivity are more willing to use them, but even
some of them wouldn’t be able to use them. Coupons are sometimes complicated to redeem
because you have to remember the coupon and things like that. Many companies have created
mechanisms to make coupon redemption a little higher, but sometimes that causes that consumer
that were willing to pay full price, to receive a discount even if they didn’t want it.
What influences a consumer to pursue coupons?
First of all…. High price sensitivity, sometimes also a sense of fair trade or getting something
extra is also a big influence for pursing coupons.
Which kind of consumer pursues coupons etc.? Are there products where more consumers
try to find a cheaper price and others where they don’t care?
Again, price sensitivity is the trigger. If there is not a high price sensitivity in buying the product,
then the coupon is worthless. Sometimes products that are more or less the same, a preference
could be triggered with a coupon. Trial of a product is also something that can be accomplished
with coupons.
How can a company use this knowledge to implement coupons? (Dynamic coupons?)
Loyalty cards could help to use dynamic couponing. Pet stores like Petco use the loyalty as a
coupon card, and the discounts could change with multiple factors related to patterns, demands,
etc.
Appendix 10 - Interview Wolfgang Sessler
Glauben Sie, dass uns das Internet neue Möglichkeiten der Preis- Differenzierung bietet?
Ja selbstverständlich. Das ist natürlich so, dass wir als Daimler das Internet als Basis und Plattform
nutzen, um Preise darzustellen. Es geht soweit, dass man das Fahrzeug konfigurieren kann und
einen Preis in Echtzeit anzeigen lassen kann. Das unterscheidet nicht, wer der Kunde ist und das
wiederrum macht auch Probleme, wie im Nutzfahrzeug-Geschäft weil wir dort Unterschiede
machen. Ein Großkunde bekommt möglicherweise einen größeren Nachlass weil er mehr
Fahrzeuge auf einmal kauft und diese Fahrzeuge sind speziell und entsprechend gebaut und
erlauben einen größeren Nachlass. Kleinkunden bekommen den eventuell nicht. Das kann man im
Internet nicht abbilden. Ganz wesentlich ist im Gegensatz zum PKW Geschäft haben wir bei den
Nutzfahrzeugen keine allgemein Preistransparenz im Markt und der Kunde sich auf einen
Listenpreis nicht festlegen kann. Im LKW Geschäft gibt es gar keine Listenpreise mehr. Wohl aber
einen Konfigurator, ich kann also ein Fahrzeug ausstatten, erhalte aber keinen Preis – anders im
Transporter Geschäft, dort kann ich mir ein Fahrzeug zusammenstellen bis zu technischen
Einzelheiten und am Ende habe ich einen Listenpreis. Das ist aber nicht der Preis den ich zu
bezahlen habe, das ist nicht der Transaktionspreis – der ist sehr unterschiedlich.
111
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis eines Konsumenten in offline und online Kanälen
unterscheidet? Bei Mercedes ist es so, dass die Preiswahrnehmung durchaus unterschiedlich ist
zu dem tatsächlichen Preis. Wir sind es von PKW gewöhnt dass wir teurer sind als alle
Wettbewerber und dabei sind die Wettbewerber BMW und Audi und wir haben in jedem Segment
ein Preis Premium und sind teurer – darauf kann sich der Kunde verlassen. Im
Nutzfahrzeuggeschäft ist das anderes – hier gibt es keine Premium Hersteller, hier sind die
Wettbewerber Fiat, Citroen, Ford etc.
Hier herrschen andere Vorstellungen, von PKW beeinflusst wird immer der höchste Listenpreis
und auch Transaktionspreis erwartet – dem ist nicht so.
Die Diskrepanz zwischen Wahrnehmung und der tatsächlichen Preisstellung ist enorm. Durch
Marktforschung ist uns bewusst, wie groß die Vorstellung des Preises ist. In allen Segmenten wird
unser Preis überschätzt, wie der potentielle Kunde denkt.
Glauben Sie, dass sich der Referenzpreis zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen oder Ländern
unterscheidet?
Die Preisvorstellung ist in der Tat sehr unterschiedlich. Wir haben uns lange mit Europa
beschäftigt und langsam wird unser Preis nicht mehr ganz so erhöht – vor allem im Vergleich zu
VW – wahrgenommen. Aber es gibt kein Land in dem der Preis von Mercedes als niedriger
eingeschätzt wird als die Wettbewerber, dabei ist das der Fall.
Trägt das Internet dazu bei, dass höhere Transparenz herrscht?
Preisstrukturen sind intransparent, nur wenige der Kunden machen Preisvergleiche. Auch das
Internet bietet keinen objektiven Preisvergleich, weil nur Listenpreise vergleichbar sind, dabei sind
alle Preise nachlassbehaftet, bis zu 30%. Bei LKW gibt es deshalb keine Listenpreise mehr, weil
es hier in den späten 90er Jahren bis zu 50% Preisnachlässe gab.
Es ist also auch nicht gewünscht, dass der Kunde die Preisnachlässe kennt oder fehlt schlicht
die Kommunikation?
Es fehlt die Kommunikation. Wenn die Listenpreise nicht verlässlich für den Kunden sind, weil er
weiß, es gibt auf jeden Fall Nachlässe, er aber nicht weiß wie groß diese sind, dann veräppelt man
den Kunden, der fühlt sich dann betrogen. Was gelernt ist, ist gelernt, Schnäppchenkäufer sind
Schnäppchenkäufer. Dann kann es passieren, dass ich einen Listenpreis immer noch fabulöser
darstelle, der Kunde sich aber nicht mehr darauf verlassen kann.
Beeinflussen Online Foren und Austauschplätze über erhaltene Nachlässe das Fairness
Gefühl eines Kunden?
Natürlich. Es gibt den Stammtisch; Gewerbetreibende und Dienstleister treffen sich und
diskutieren. Wenn der eine 5% Nachlass bekommen hat und der Andere 30%, dann ist das
natürlich ein Grund sich zu echauffieren. Wobei bei Mercedes keine großen Unterschiede in den
Nachlässen gemacht wird, beispielsweise beim Kauf eines Sprinters ist der Rabatt immer in etwa
der Gleiche. Es gibt andere Hersteller die das tun, VW macht das sehr extrem. Das Modell von
VW gegenüber dem Sprinter ist der Crafter. Da kann es schon sein, dass man zwischen 10% und
30% Nachlässe bekommt. Der Kunde wird taxiert und wenn ein Angebot des Wettbewerbs dem
Kunden vorliegt, kann der Verkäufer durch seine Spielräume das Angebot preislich unterbieten,
bis an den Punkt, an dem keine Erlöse mehr gemacht werden.
Das liegt an den hohen Wiederkaufsraten von 90%. Wenn Sprinter, dann immer Sprinter. Wenn
VW, dann immer VW. Es muss viel passieren, damit ein Kunde die Automarke wechselt. Problem
ist wenn Kunden über die unterschiedlichen Nachlässen Bescheid wissen.
Was passiert wenn die Leute rausfinden? Kann das zum Verstoß der Marke führen? Oder
nutzt das der Kunde bei einem Wiederkauf zu seinem Vorteil, weil er weiß wie viel Rabatt er
erwarten kann?
Das ist sehr schwer zu greifen, da VW die Politik fährt, die Kundennettopreise möglichst zu
verschleiern, sodass Intransparenz in den Markt gelangt; mit immer neuen Sondermodellen,
Editionsmodelle, Aktionen etc. um zu vermeiden, dass Transparenz entsteht.
Hat das Internet das Risiko und die Möglichkeiten zu Arbitrage vergrößert?
Wir versuchen zu verhindern, dass die sogenannten Übergrenzgeschäfte zur Normalität werden.
Wir können zum Beispiel am Drei-Länder-Eck Transparenz durch die Niederlassungen nicht
112
verhindern, aber es ist die Ausnahme. Wir haben sehr unterschiedliche nationale Kundenbindung,
die es nicht einfach macht, in anderen Ländern zu kaufen.
Glauben Sie, dass hauptsächlich der erleichterte Zugang zu Märkten, geringere
Transportkosten und Freihandelszonen die Arbitrage Kosten verringern?
Sollte man meinen, aber das ist eigentlich nicht der Fall. Obwohl wir einen EU Markt haben, weil
es unterschiedliche Vorgehensweisen gibt, in UK gibt es zum Beispiel Fahrzeuge auf Lager „build
to stock“ und in Deutschland „build to order“, auf Bestellung.
Wie kann Marketing im Allgemeinen Arbitrage entgegen wirken?
Wir haben normalerweise im Nutzfahrzeugbereich die Betriebe mit ihrer zugehörigen Werkstatt,
vor allem in der Garantiezeit. In dieser Zeit sollte die Werkstatt mit der landesspezifischen
Ausstattung konform ist. Hier unterscheiden sich die Länder wie Frankreich und Deutschland
schon sehr. Eine deutsche Vertragswerkstatt würde einen französischen Sprinter nicht ohne
weiteres aufnehmen. Oft wird auch geleast oder finanziert, hier sind Serviceverträge mit
einbegriffen.
Was wird aktiv in Richtung Preiswahrnehmung unternommen?
Die Preiswahrnehmung von Mercedes wird überschätzt, Preisvergleiche könnten helfen, um diese
komplett falsche Preiswahrnehmung zu verhindern. Trotzdem liegen unsere Listenpreise höher,
hier muss man aufpassen, denn wir können auch keine geringeren Listenpreise machen, ohne dass
Wettbewerber reagieren.
Der Sprinter, der traditionell als deutsches Markenprodukt immer noch in Düsseldorf produziert
wird, wird in manchen Märkten regelrecht verramscht. Der Grund für die niedrigen Preise sind die
Verkaufsgesellschaften, die argumentieren, dass sie die vorgebebenen Mengen mit den Preisen
nicht schaffen und für höhere Mengen die Preise nach unten gehen müssen. Das stimmt nicht. Es
gibt hier keine Nachfrageelastizität. Niedrigere Preise werden die Menge nicht erhöhen.
Ist ein Einstiegspreis eine bessere Möglichkeit?
Die Sticker-Fahrzeuge sind als Fahrzeug meist untauglich. Sie dienen lediglich der
Preiskommunikation, um ins Relevant Set zu kommen.
Wird dynamic Pricing im Allgemeinen als unfair angesehen?
Es ist gelernte Wirklichkeit. Das Bier in Frankreich am Strand ist teurer als das in Ihrer
Stammkneipe. Man ist es gewohnt, das in allen Konsumbereichen zu erleben. Bei
Investitionsgütern ist es durch die rationale Werteinschätzung anders. Im Automobilbereich
verstehen die Leute auch, wenn nach Kriterien wie der langjährigen Kundenbindung preislich
differenziert wird.
Sind Sie der Meinung, dass dynamic Pricing eher bei vergänglichen Produkten/Services
funktioniert?
Bei Reparaturen wird es immer andere Preise geben. Es gibt Vorgaben, aber die Werkstatt
unterscheidet sich. Das ist auch irgendwie akzeptiert.
113
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