Title: Is it really worth it? A test of pay-what-you-want pricing strategies in a German consumer behaviour context

Authors: Tim Dorn; Augustin Suessmair

Addresses: University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923 Cologne, Germany ' University of Lueneburg, Wilschenbrucher Weg 84, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany

Abstract: This paper focuses on the factors that significantly influence an individual's decision in establishing a price for a standardised product under so-called pay-what-you-want (PWYW) circumstances. Current research has identified seven influential constructs that are assumed to be the main drivers of consumer behaviour when making a pricing decision in a PWYW environment: fairness, altruism, loyalty, price consciousness, income, satisfaction and reference price. This paper extends the list of influential factors with an additional construct, situational factors and examines the constructs' relative importance with regard to their influence on a PWYW decision. Moreover, the positive effect of personal interaction on a buyer's willingness to pay during a payment situation in the PWYW context was confirmed.

Keywords: pay what you want; PWYW; pricing strategies; behavioural pricing; Big Mac index; willingness to pay; situational influences; pay as you wish; participative pricing; service pricing; Germany; consumer behaviour; fairness; altruism; loyalty; price consciousness; income; satisfaction; reference price; personal interaction.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2016.073321

Global Business and Economics Review, 2016 Vol.18 No.1, pp.82 - 100

Received: 24 Sep 2014
Accepted: 26 Dec 2014

Published online: 30 Nov 2015 *

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