The Influence of Thinking Styles on Perceived Price Fairness: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Customers expect pricing practices to be fair, they are specifically sensitive to price increase considered unfair or unacceptable, which eventually influences both behavioural intentions and emotions. Substantial investments are deployed in building positive associations with consumers, which can be subverted by the incident of price increase leading to unfairness perceptions. It is significantly important to mitigate the perceived unfairness perceptions, given the stakes involved. This article investigates the role that styles of thinking (holistic versus analytic) plays in perceived price fairness. The findings of this research show that styles of thinking play a significant role in influencing perceived price fairness. When exposed to negative and/or undesirable events such as price increase, styles of thinking influence cognitive attribution, which, in turn, influences price fairness perceptions. This research adds to the growing literature in price fairness by exploring the influence of thinking styles on perceived price fairness that has not been examined before. These findings suggest that strategies to influence styles of thinking could be useful in managing perceived unfairness perceptions. Marketers and managers could utilise marketing-management strategies based on findings of this research to maintain positive consumer’s perception of price, thereby will improve firms’ performance, in terms of, value, profitability and sales.