The Price Is Unfair ! A Conceptual Framework of Price Fairness Perceptions

Lan Xia is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Bentley College (e-mail: [email protected]). Kent B. Monroe is J.M. Jones Professor of Marketing, Department of Business Administration, University of Illinois, Champaign (e-mail: [email protected]). Jennifer L. Cox is Associate Brand Manager, John Deere Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment (e-mail: [email protected]). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the anonymous JM reviewers for their helpful suggestions and for their support during the development of this article. The issue of price fairness has become newsworthy as concerns about gasoline prices, prescription drug prices, physicians’ retainer fees, smart vending machines, hidden fees and charges, or Amazon.com’s dynamic pricing test have become public knowledge. The uproar that occurred when an Amazon.com customer discovered that the price of same-title DVDs differed across purchase occasions was a public relations nightmare for the firm (Adamy 2000). This example shows that both the price offered and the rationale for offering a certain price may lead to perceptions of price unfairness. Perceptions of price unfairness may lead to negative consequences for the seller, including buyers leaving the exchange relationship, spreading negative information, or engaging in other behaviors that damage the seller (e.g., Campbell 1999). Why do consumers at times believe that they are being treated unfairly? Given increasing public concern, it seems appropriate to explore further the theoretical bases and empirical findings to clarify what is known about the causes of perceived price unfairness and how the perceptions influence customers’ behaviors. Various conceptualizations have been developed and adapted to explain the phenomenon of fairness. However, each approach tends to address a specific reason for price fairness. For example, the dual entitlement principle emphasizes the influence of supply and demand changes and the sellers’ profit orientation (Kahneman, Knetsch, and Thaler 1986b). Equity theory and distributive justice emphasize the importance of equality of outcomes between two parties in an exchange (Adams 1965; Homans 1961). In contrast, procedural justice focuses on the influence of the underlying procedures used to determine the outcomes on fairness perceptions (Thibaut and Walker 1975). In this article, we present a conceptual framework for price fairness that integrates the conceptualizations and organizes existing price fairness research. We then use the framework to identify gaps in existing research and to offer guidance for further research. As we proceed, we develop a set of propositions for new research. We conclude with some practical prescriptions for pricing managers.