How much is it? Price representation practices in retail markets

Abstract

This article explores the notion of price representation, the various ways in which prices are made available to market participants, an important aspect of contemporary markets that has been relatively neglected in previous research. Specifically, the article uses the representation of prices in contemporary retail markets as a backdrop for theorizing about the role of price representations. We propose a number of conceptual relations between price representations, prices and the practices of producing them. We further elaborate on what price representations represent by relating their generation to the process of qualifying goods. We conclude by relating our conceptual discussion to existing research, drawing out implications for future research on prices and pricing, for theorizing about markets and for marketing strategy.