| Title | Versioning, Price Fairness and Purchase Decision - An Empirical Investigation |
| Authors | Werner, Bastian, Brusch, Ines and Bürks-Arndt, Larissa |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | Archives of Data Science, Series A 6(2) / 2020 |
| Abstract | Companies typically offer different variants of a product to address many heterogeneous consumer needs. This involves improving, reducing, cor- recting, or dismantling existing parts of a product, which is called versioning. This also serves to capture the different willingness to pay of consumers. Ac- cording to rational choice theory, consumers weigh benefits relative to their costs in evaluating a product and generate the purchase decision. Consequently, the production method should be irrelevant. The empirical evidence of this study contradicts this thought. Based on Equity theory and Dual-Entitlement theory, a quantitative survey has been carried out. In this context, the four versioning methods were examined to determine whether they appear fair to consumers and how/if they influence their purchasing decisions. The results provide new insights for researchers from a theoretical and practical point of view, e.g., price fairness, and ethical convictions have significant effects on purchasing decisions. Finally, the paper gives some general implications and recommendations for future research. |