Perceived fairness of pricing on the Internet

Abstract

The perceived fairness of price changes has been a subject of much inquiry in economic and marketing literature. This paper examines consumers' perceptions of the fairness of pricing on the Internet. Fair prices on the Internet, pricing mechanisms, methods of price discrimination and yield management are investigated from a consumer's perspective. Results obtained from 276 questionnaires collected in Taiwan indicate that the Internet prices that equal those in the traditional channels are perceived to be unfair. Respondents considered various pricing mechanisms on the Internet to be fair while many practices of price discrimination and yield management were perceived to be unfair. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.