Title: An exploratory study of factors associated with customer perceptions of paying above and below market prices

Authors: Robert C. Fink, Kenneth J. Hatten, William L. James

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Worcester State College, 86 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA 01886, USA. ' School of Management, Boston University, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. ' Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA

Abstract: This paper studies the relationships between customer and supplier exchange benefits, relational marketing, customer size, environmental uncertainty, competition and industrial customer perceptions of when they are paying above or below market prices for their supplier product. The results indicate that customers perceive they are paying above average market prices in situations characterised by lower levels of customer exchange benefits, reduced supplier resource allocations, transactional relationships, high environmental uncertainty and elevated levels of competition. These results offer marketing managers with insights into factors associated with enhanced revenue through above market prices and factors associated with revenue reductions through below market prices.

Keywords: industrial pricing; relational marketing; revenue management; customer perception; market prices; supplier exchange benefits; competition; environmental uncertainty; customer exchange benefits; resource allocations; revenue reductions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRM.2010.030031

International Journal of Revenue Management, 2010 Vol.4 No.1, pp.69 - 91

Published online: 03 Dec 2009 *

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