外文翻译消费者关于广告价格比较的认知Word格式.docx

外文翻译消费者关于广告价格比较的认知Word格式.docx

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specialprice"

iscomparedwithapreviousprice,amanufacturer'

sprice,arivalseller'

sprice,thepriceofsimilarmerchandise,oranareaprice.Thegeneralimplicationoftheseadvertisementsistheconsumercanpayalowerthannormalpriceforthemerchandiseifhe/shewillpurchaseitfromtheadvertiser.Thesellerpromotesa"

intheadvertisementinthebeliefthatmoreconsumerswillpurchasetheitemiftheybelievethepriceiscomparativelylower.

Seller'

sDecisionProblems

Thedecisiontopromotealowerpriceproducestwodecisionproblemsfortheseller.

1.Howmuchtoreducetheprice.

2.Howtocommunicatethefactthatthepricehasbeenlowered.

Thefirstdecisionproblemposestwoadditionalconcerns.Ifthepricereductionistoosmall,consumersmayperceivelittlepricedifferencebetweenthetwooffersandthereforemaybelievethepricereductiondoesnotwarrantapurchaseeffort.Ifthepricereductionistoolarge,consumersmayperceivethattheofferisnotbonafide.Forexample,theymaynotbelievethelargerreferencepriceisanactualprice,ortheymaywonderaboutthe"

quality"

ofthesaleitem（Monroe1979,p.45）.

Theseconddecisionproblemrelatestotheformatthesellermayusetopresentthecomparativeoffer.Recognizingthattoolittledifferenceinpricemaynotstimulatepurchasebehaviour,thesellermustcommunicatethevaluebeingoffered.Often,therefore,thespecialpriceiscomparedwithausualorregularprice,amanufacturer'

ssuggestedprice,orsomeotherreferenceprice.Inaddition,thereductionmaybepromotedwithastatementofeithertherelativesavings（percentage）orabsolutesavings（dollars）,orotherwordstoconnoteaspecial（BerkowitzandWalton1980）.However,consumersmaynotperceivethecomparativepriceadvertisementinawaythatreflectsthetruesituation.Someadvertisementsappeardesigneddeliberatelytocreatemisperceptions,andsomeadvertisersunintentionallycreatemisperceptions.Regardlessofintent,buyersmaybedeceived（FederalTradeCommission1964）.

RegulatoryConsiderations

Becausepriceadvertisementsmaydeceiveconsumers,theFederalTradeCommissionadoptedasetofguidelinesin1958entitled"

GuidesAgainstDeceptivePricing,"

referringspecificallytocomparativeorcomparisonpricing.By1962,theCommissionwasconcernedwiththepossibilityofmanylawsuitsarisingbecauseofthe1958guides.Therefore,revisedguideswerepreparedandadoptedin1964andarestillinforce.The1964guidesareshorter（fiveinnumber）,moregeneral,andarewritteninamoreconversationalstyle.In1974theCommissionpublishedaproposedrevisionoftheguidesforcomment.Actiononthisrevisionisstillpending.

Currently,littleempiricalevidenceisavailableonhowconsumersperceivecomparativepriceoffers.Consequently,neitherthesellernorthepublicpolicymakerhasreliableevidenceonhowtoformulateeitherpricingpolicyorpublicregulationsoncomparativepriceadvertising.In1978,thestaffattheFederalTradeCommissionproposedthatconsumerperceptionandbehaviorstudiesbeconductedtoprovidedatafordevelopinganenforcementapproachforcomparativepriceadvertising.Suchresearchhasyettobeconducted.

PERCEPTIONOFCOMPARATZVEPRICES

Thetwodecisionproblemsrelatedtopromotingalowerpricecanbeanalyzedintermsofperceptionpsychology.Thatis,theconsumer'

sperceptionofacomparativepriceadvertisementderivesfromhis/herinterpretationofthepricedifferencesandfromhis/herinterpretationofthewordsusedtoconnotethelowerprice.Itisknownthatconsumersdonotevaluatepricessingly,butratherjudgepricesinreferencetostandardsthatmaybeobjectiveorsubjective（Monroe1973）.Thus,acomparativepriceadvertisementfeaturingboththeofferedpriceanda（higher）comparativepriceisanattempttoimposeareferenceorstandardpricefortheconsumer.Primarilytheconsumermustjudgewhetherthelowerpriceisacceptable（believable）inrelationtothehigherreferenceprice.

Toensurethattheconsumeracceptsthehigherpriceasastandard,thesellerincludessuchwordsas"

formerly,"

"

usually,"

and"

manufacturer'

ssuggested"

todescribethehigherprice.Asellercanusewordsinavarietyofwaystoensuretheconsumerperceivesthehigherprice,andsomeofthesewaysmayleadbuyerstoperceivethatanofferisbetterthanitactuallyis.Inpublicpolicy,theconcerniswhetherthesemanticeffectofacomparativepriceofferdeceivesconsumersintobelievinganofferissomethingthatitisnot.

TYPESOFCOMPARATIVEPRICINGFORMATS

TheFederalTradeCommissionhascategorizedthealternativecomparativepriceadvertisingformatsintothreegroups:

'

former"

prices,comparative'

tradearea"

prices,andcomparativedevalue"

prices.

TradeAreaPrices

Tradeareacomparisonadvertisementscomparetheadvertisedpricewithpricesofthesamearticlesoldbyotherretailers.Twogeneralformatsareused.Inmanufacturer'

ssuggestedpriceadvertisementsthesellerpresentsthepriceofferedbycomparingitwithahigherpricesuggested（listed）bythemanufacturer,forexample,"

XYZInstantCamera-manufacturer'

ssuggestedprice$34.95,ourprice$25.95."

UsingtheusuallysoldatXXXformat,thesellercomparesthepriceofferedwithausualprice,eitherinthestoreorinthetradearea.Generally,theofferismodelspecific,andtheusualpriceishigherthanthepriceoffered.

FormerPriceComparisons

Inthistypeofadvertisementthesellercomparesthepriceofferedwiththeseller'

sformermgher）price.When"

isusedtorefertoaprice,theissuerelatedtodeceptioniswhetherthe"

priceistrueinthesensethesellerdidintentionallyselltheitemattheformerprice.

ComparableValueComparisons

Inadvertisementsofthistypethesellercomparestheproductandpricewithsimilarproductsandtheirpriceseitherinthestoreorofferedbyothersellers.Althoughthe"

saleitem"

isnotexactlylikethereferenced（higher-price）item,theadvertisementimpliesthatitisofsimilarquality.

PolicyResearchIssues

Initsrecommendationsonthe1974proposedpricingguidestheFTC'

sstaffarguedforempiricalevidencetosupportordisconfirmseveralassumptionsabout"

consumerconductandperceptions."

Thestaffrecommendedinvestigatingthreeformsofbehavioralresponse:

perceptions,informationsearch,andactualpurchasebehavior.Concernalsowasexpressedaboutwhetherempiricalevidenceonperceptions,informationsearch,andpurchasebehaviorwouldbegeneralizabletoallconsumers,allproductand/orpricelevels,alltypesofcomparativeoffers,andallmethodsof

communicatingthesizeofdiscount.Theempiricalissuesisolatedbythestaffcanbesummarizedbythefollowingquestions.

Perception.Doconsumersbelievethereferenceadvertisedpricesare"

true"

?

Doconsumersperceivethata"

bettervalue"

isavailableifthesizeofthediscountisrelativelylarger,eveniftheofferpriceishigherthan"

sale"

pricesinthearea?

Informationsearch.Doconsumersreduceinformationsearchandinformationacquisitionbecauseoftheoffer?

Purchasebehavior.Doconsumersexpressawillingnessorintenttopurchaseafterseeingtheadvertisement?

Doestheofferinduceconsumerstoconsiderpurchasingahigher-pricedproductthanwouldotherwisebepurchased?

Doestheofferinfluenceconsumerstopurchaseanitemsoonerthandesired?

Generalizability.Dobehavioralresponsesdifferbytypeofproductand/orpricelevel?

Dobehavioralresponsesdifferifthesizeofdiscountisexpressedinrelativeterms（i.e.,percentageoff）ratherthanabsolutedollarsandcents?

Arecertaintypesofconsumersmorepronetomisperceivecomparativeoffers?

Arecertaintypesofcomparativeoffersmorelikelytoinducemisperceptions?

AVAILABLERESEARCHEVIDENCE

Perceptionbasicallyinvolvestheprocessofcategorization.Inthisprocessbuyersmakefrequentuseofcues.Someofthesecuesarepricesthatinfluencebuyers'

judgmentsofwhetherthedifferencebetweenareferencepriceandacomparativepriceissignificant.Olson'

s（1973,1977）dichotomyofintrinsicandextrinsiccuesprovidesaconceptualwayofunderstandingthesecueswithintheframeworkofcomparativepriceadvertising.

AccordingtoOlson（1973,p.46）,"

anyinformationalstimulusorcuemaybeconsideredtobederivedeitherfromtheactualphysicalproduct（i.e.,thecueisintrinsictotheproductorbrand）orfromproductrelatedattributesnotactuallyapartofthephysicalproduct（i.e.,thecueisextrinsictotheproductorbrand）."

Extendingthisdichotomytotheevaluationofacomparativepriceadvertisement,weproposethattwotypesofcuesarepresent.Pricecuesincludethereferenceprice（impliedorreal）andtheofferedprice.Semanticcues（BerkowitzandWalton1980）areotherexpressionswithintheadvertisementthatfacilitatethebuyer'

sabilitytoevaluatetheoffer.Semanticcuesincludetheformatsillustratedaboveandanydirectreferencetothepricedifferences,e.g.,"

x%off"

or"

$yoff."

Monroe（1979,p.44-5）suggeststhattheperceptionofasale（comparativepriceoffer）maybeconceptualizedwithintheframeworkofassimilation-contrasttheory.Ifthesale（lower）priceisperceivedasareasonablesubstituteforthereference（higher）price,buyersmayperceiveabargain（assimilationeffect）.Ifthebuyersperceivethesalepriceasbelongingtoanotherproduct-pricecategory,theymaynotbelievethatthesalepriceisareductionfromtheadvertised

referencepr