With customers' sharp sensitivity these days to prices, pay special attention to what research has found set offs a sense that pricing is unfair. Chief among these indignation triggers is a perception that prices are being raised without warning because demand is greater through no fault of the shopper. This can lead even loyal customers to pledge to never again enter your store.
Or purchase from your vending machine. Some years ago, the Coca-Cola Corporation was assessing the value of a vending machine which would change the price for a bottle based on the temperature. On hotter days, the price would go up and on cooler days, the price of the Coke would drop. Well, even the most fervent doomsayers of global warming can't legitimately blame the weather on a guy or gal who just wants a Coke. The outrage from Coke's customers led to the prompt demise of the hot flash vending machine.
But suppose the company said it takes more energy—and is therefore more expensive—to keep a Coke bottle refrigerated on a steamy day than on a chilly day, and that this accounts for the change in pricing. A variety of studies both in the laboratory and in stores indicate that if the amount of the price increase can reasonably be accounted for by a rationale, shoppers will accept the price increase.
Another avenue to easing indignation is team up with charity. This works best when the charity partner is logically related to the price increase. Suppose major flooding hits a store's target market area, resulting in a demand spike for flashlight batteries. If the store increases the price of batteries, but announces how a portion of the profits will be contributed to the Red Cross, acceptance of the price increase could be a slam dunk.
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