Hare and tortoise: How do price change patterns affect propensity to book

Zhuoyang Li, Purdue University

Abstract

With an increasing using of online booking, hotel room rate changing information becomes nearly transparent to consumers. And this trend encourages deal-seeking consumer behaviors, which are based on price change information. So hotels can influence consumers' propensity to book through managing price changes. The present study aims at examining consumers' propensity to book in a more realistic context by introducing two conditions: different price changing patterns and interaction between price-moving trends and price patterns. It is important for hotel managers to understand the impact of different price change trends and patterns because price changes can directly affect consumer perception and booking behavior. Results indicated that, hotels should choose different price change patterns for specific price change trend for the following reasons that: first, leaping price change patterns generally have greater effects on consumers' propensity to book; second, price change trends moderate the effect of leaping patterns on consumers' propensity to book. Additionally, finding also showed that hotels could affect consumers' propensity to book by influencing consumers' perceived sell-out risk and expectation of future price.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Tang, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Marketing|Management

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