Why Suggest Non-Binding Retail Prices?

We provide a simple behavioral explanation of why manufacturers frequently announce non-binding suggested retail prices for their products. Our model is based on the assumption that once the actual price for a product exceeds its suggested retail price, the marginal propensity to consume suddenly jumps downward. We show that this may induce a monopolistic retailer to set the price equal to the suggested retail price in equilibrium, although the latter price is non-binding. This, in turn, leads to a shift of pro ts from the retailer to the manufacturer