Comparing Apples with Oranges: The Impact of Dynamic Bundling on Price Fairness Perceptions

摘要

While dynamic pricing can increase profitability (up to 25%; Garbarino and Lee 2003; Petro 2015), it also can cause problems for firms. Consumers experience greater perceptions of unfairness and lower levels of trust when prices are different across consumers (Cox 2001; Garbarino and Lee 2003; Gre-wal, Hardesty, and Iyer 2004; Haws and Bearden 2006). Is it possible for firms to reap the benefits of extracting consumer surplus from using dynamic pricing while not having to worry about arousing consumer unfairness perceptions? What managerial strategy can help firms to extract surplus without reducing fairness perceptions? What underlying mechanisms explain the effectiveness of this strategy?