Perceived Price Fairness in Pay-What-You-Want: A Multi-Country Study

Abstract

The present study investigated perceived price fairness (PPF) and aimed to reveal determinants of PPF within the participative pricing mechanism paywhat-you-want (PWYW). Results support the hypothesis that PPF in PWYW conditions is higher than PPF in ordinary price setting (OPS) conditions. Determinants of PPF in PWYW conditions were identified to include both the price level and the degree of social interaction. Whereas the results conform to previous research that PPF correlates negatively with the price level in OPS conditions, this study reveals a positive correlation between the price level and PPF in PWYW conditions, which suggests that the buyer’s mental model of PPF varies with the process of price determination. Therefore, future research should re-examine consequences of PPF in PWYW conditions. Additionally, results show cross-country differences of PPF and the influence of the price level on PPF.