Music, film and video game makes face a new online, digital world. And some are testing a revolutionary pricing system: pay-what-you-want. But a new study finds that when consumers can name their own price, many may opt out of buying at all. The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
音乐、电影和视频游戏进入了全新的网络和数字时代。这时出现了一种革命性的定价方式:“随你付”。但一项新研究发现,当允许消费者自己给商品定价的时候,他们中的许多人反而选择了放弃购买。这项研究刊登在《全国科学院学报》上。
For the research, tour boat passengers posed for photos. Each boat ride announced a price of 15 dollars per picture. But they then charged either 15 dollars, 5 dollars, or the option to pay what you want.
研究人员以摆姿势拍照的游船乘客作为研究对象。每个游船对每张照片的定价是15美元。但随后有的收取15美元,有的收取5美元,有的则让游客“随你付”。
As expected, the fewest tourists purchased photos when they had to pay full price. But more customers bought photos when they cost 5 dollars than when prices were pay-what-you-want—which could have saved passengers even more.
正如研究人员所料,当不得不支付全价时,很少有游客购买照片。当定价5美元的时候,大多数的游客都会购买照片——多于可以“随你付“的游客——尽管”随你付“的游客本可以节省更多的钱。
The researchers suggest that choosing to pay less than an announced lower-than-expected price made people feel cheap. With choices then limited to spending more money or feeling like a tightwad, potential customers simply opted out of the purchase. So on sea or land, a low, set price may catch the most fish.
研究人员称,低于预期的价格让人们觉得很便宜。人们既不愿意多花钱也不愿意让人觉得自己是个吝啬鬼。因此,潜在客户只能选择放弃购买。所以,只有较低的固定价格才能抓住大多数顾客的心——这个定价原则,放诸四海而皆准。