Why Expect Lower Prices Online? Empirical Examination in Online and Store-Based Retailers

10.7903/ijecs.1191

Shao-Kang Lo；Ai-Yun Hsieh；Yu-Ping Chiu

Overhead Cost ； Price Perception ； Internal Reference Price ； Online Retailers ； Store-Based Retailers

International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies

5卷1期（2014 / 06 / 01）

27 - 37

英文

This study extends prior research by examining consumer expectations regarding the lower price of products found in online shopping stores and considers the role of overhead cost in consumer decision-making. By using a laboratory experiment method, we verified the difference in the perceived overhead cost between the two types of retailers and the relationship between perceived overhead cost and internal reference pricing. This study involved 123 subjects. The findings show that consumers perceive online retailers' overhead costs as lower than store-based retailers' overhead costs and that lower perceived overhead prices cause consumers to have lower internal reference prices. This study supplements e-commerce research, can assist retailers in understanding consumers' perceptions of overhead cost and product prices, and serves as a reference for online retailers attempting to create pricing strategies.

1. (1988).Issues in Pricing: Theory and Research.
2. Assafa, S.A.,Bubshaita, A.A.,Atiyahb, S.,Mohammed, A.S.(2001).The management of construction company overhead costs.International Journal of Project Management,19(5),295-303.
3. Bakos, J.Y.(1991).A strategy analysis of electronic marketplace.MIS Quarterly,15(3),295-310.
4. Brynjolfsson, E.,Smith, D.M.(2000).Frictionless commerce? A comparison of internet and conventional retailers.Management Science,46(4),563-585.
5. Buxmann, P.,Strube, J.,Pohl, G.(2007).Cooperative pricing in digital value chains- the case of online music.Journal of Electronic Commerce Research,8(4),32-40.
6. Chang, H.H.,Wang, H.W.(2010).The moderating effect of customer perceived value on online shopping behavior.Online Information Review,35(3),333-359.
7. Deck, C.A.,Wilson, B.J.(2002).The effectiveness of low price matching in mitigating the competitive pressure of low friction electronic markets.Electronic Commerce Research,2(4),385-398.
8. Ernst and Young(1999).The second annual Ernst and young internet shopping study: The digital channel continues to gather steam.Washington, D.C.:National Retail Federation.
9. Grewal, D.,Janakiraman, R.,Kalyanam, K.,Kannan, P.K.,Ratchford, B.,Song, R.,Tolerico, S.(2010).Strategic online and offline retail pricing: A review and research agenda.Journal of Interactive Marketing,24(2),138-154.
10. Hardesty, D.M.,Suter, T.A.(2005).E-tail and retail reference price effects.Journal of Product and Brand Management,14(2),129-136.
11. Huang, J.H.,Chang, C.T.,Chen, Y.H.(2005).Perceived fairness of pricing on the Internet.Journal of Economic Psychology,26(3),343-361.
12. Jensen, T.,Kees, J.,Burton, S.,Turnipseed, F.L.(2003).Advertised reference prices in and internet environment: Effects on consumer price perceptions and channel search intentions.Journal of Interactive Marketing,17(2),20-33.
13. Kahneman, D.,Knetsch, J.L.,Thaler, R.H.(1986).Fairness as a constraint on profit seeking: entitlements in the market.American Economic Review,76(4),728-741.
14. Kim, H.W.,Xu, Y.,Gupta, S.(2012).Which is more important in internet shopping, perceived price or trust?.Electronic Commerce Research and Applications,11(3),241-252.
15. Klein, N.H.,Oglethorpe, J.E.(1987).Cognitive reference points in consumer decision-making.Advances in Consumer Research,14(1),183-187.
16. Lee, Z.,Gosain, S.(2002).A longitudinal price comparison for music cds in electronic and brick-and-mortar markets: Pricing strategies in emergent electronic commerce.Journal of Business Strategies,19(1),55-71.
17. Levin, A.M.,Levin, I.P.,Weller, J.A.(2005).A multi-attribute analysis of preferences for online and offline shopping: Differences across products, consumers, and shopping stages.Journal of Electronic Commerce Research,6(4),281-290.
18. Li, B.,Tang, F.F.(2011).Online pricing dynamics in internet retailing: The case of the DVD market.Electronic Commerce Research and Applications,10(2),227-236.
19. Lichtenstein, D.R.,Bearden, W.O.(1989).Contextual influence on perceptions of merchant-supplied reference prices.Journal of Consumer Research,16(1),55-66.
20. Lii, D.Y.S.,Lee, M.(2005).Consumers' evaluations of online reference price advertisement.International Journal of Commerce and Management,15(2),101-112.
21. Lii, D.Y.S.,Lee, M.(2006).Online advertised reference pricing: consumers' perceptions and responses.Journal of Global Competitiveness,14(1),37-50.
22. Lo, S.K.,Chou, Y.J.,Teng, C.I.(2013).Source effect of advertised reference price influences on transaction value in online shopping environments.Electronic Commerce Research,13(4),411-421.
23. Mitra, D.,Fay, S.(2010).Managing service expectations in online markets: A signaling theory of e-tailer pricing and empirical tests.Journal of Retailing,86(2),184-199.
24. Monroe, K.B.(1973).Buyers' subjective perceptions of price.Journal of Marketing Research,10(1),70-80.
25. Ramanathan, R.(2010).E-commerce success criteria: determining which criteria count most.Electronic Commerce Research,10(2),191-208.
26. Reed, S.(1999).Online shopping? You bet! I'll do anything to avoid the mall over the holidays.InfoWorld,21(43),91.
27. Robson, K.,Farshid, M.,Bredican, J.,Humphrey, S.(2013).Making sense of online consumer reviews: A methodology.International Journal of Market Research,55(4),2-13.
28. Schlesinger, J.M.(1999).So has the new economy slain inflation, or not?.Wall Street Journal,23(2),7-16.
29. Thaler, R.H.(1985).Mental accounting and consumer choices.Marketing Science,4(3),199-214.
30. VanTassel, S.,Weitz, B.A.(1997).Interactive home shopping: All the comforts of home.Direct Marketing,59(10),40-41.
31. Waldeck, R.(2005).Prices in a shopbot market.Electronic Commerce Research,5(3),367-381.
32. Xing, X.,Yang, Z.,Tang, F.F.(2006).A comparison of time-varying online price and price dispersion between multichannel and dotcom DVD retailers.Journal of Interactive Marketing,20(2),3-10.
33. Yu, S.F.(2008).Price perception of online airline ticket shoppers.Journal of Air Transport Management,14(2),66-69.
34. Zhou, L.,Dai, L.,Zhang, D.(2007).Online shopping acceptance model - a critical survey of consumer factors in online shopping.Journal of Electronic Commerce Research,8(1),41-42.

1. 姚乃文,邱于平(2023)。電商平台中的遊戲化機制對購買意圖影響之研究。行銷科學學報，19(1)，47-66。