Previous research has shown that if consumers are aware that they are paying more than another customer for a similar transaction, then they may perceive the price to be unfair. A concept closely related to fairness is transaction value, defined as consumers' perceptions of the psychological...

Preferential treatment is a prevalent relationship marketing practice of companies treating some customers better than others. Using two studies, the authors explore the practice of preferential treatment and show that preferential treatment influences both consumers who receive it and those who...

Previous research has shown that when there are multiple possible prices for two brands, the brand that is discounted frequently but at shallow levels is perceived to have a lower average price than the brand that is discounted infrequently but at deeper levels (the "frequency effect"). However,...

Drawing on the theoretical foundation of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, this article develops an expanded conceptualization and new measure of consumers' proclivity to buy compulsively. Compulsive buying is defined as a consumer's tendency to be preoccupied with buying that is revealed...

An understanding of buyer response to price depends upon determining how buyers perceive price. One hypothesis is buyers have an acceptable range of prices and, therefore, the demand curve is backward bending. This article presents an a priori argument for a new research methodology for...

Using two studies, this article explores how a tendency to buy excessively for self relates to spending on one's pet. Existing research on excessive buying reports that these buyers spend money primarily on themselves. Excessive buying is the tendency to be preoccupied with buying and,...