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Abstract

In the hospitality field, pricing research is mostly limited to economic implications of pricing decisions (yield management), choices in pricing practices, and reference pricing. Price presentation and its impact on consumer preference, however, is another aspect of pricing research that has not been as well developed. The current study makes an effort to fill this gap through an interdisciplinary study of price presentation drawing from the fields of biology, psychology, marketing and hospitality management. The obtained results demonstrated that the method of price presentation has a significant effect on overall consumer preference and the perceptions of quality and value. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the degree of this effect could vary within the industry depending on the nature of a segment: fine dining, casual dining, and quick service. The impact of price presentation, left versus right, on consumer preference was found to be significant in fine dining and quick-service segments but to a lesser extent in the casual-dining segment. The follow-up focus group studies revealed that in consumer decision-making process, price is used more as a selective factor than as a qualifying factor. These results may be considered valuable in making price presentation decisions in the restaurant industry.

Keywords

psychology restaurants price price presentation menu pricing psychological pricing marketing

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Psychobiology of Price Presentation: An Experimental Analysis of Restaurant Menus

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