Bootcamp on price psychology

How do prices and their presentation influence our purchasing behaviour? How do we "read" prices and what strategy is recommended for the presentation of special prices?

These were precisely the questions at the centre of our boot camp on price psychology at the Witten/Herdecke University to which we invited Dr Markus Husemann-Kopetzky (Managing Director of the Price Management Institute).

His presentation consisted of three parts:

Heuristics in price perception
From the "left-digit effect", the influence of mental fatigue (depletion) to price-quality irrationality - we discussed how strongly psychological factors characterise our perception of prices.

Application in practice
Whether it's strike prices, the comparison of percentage vs. euro discounts, the compromise effect or the structuring of websites with substitute or complementary products - Markus impressively demonstrated how heuristics can be used strategically.

Setting up a consulting project
From formulating objectives to developing hypotheses and experiments through to implementation: here, too, it became clear how important a structured approach is to successfully utilise psychological effects.

Conclusion: The interplay of psychology, emotion and strategic thinking often influences our perception of prices more than we realise. 

Many thanks to Markus for the inspiring impulse and to our students for the lively discussion!