Persuading Consumers to Pay More by Using Anchoring Manipulations in Stores: An Interdisciplinary Experiment on Merchandising and Anchoring Theory
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: This study aims to understand the use of the anchoring effect as a manipulation tool and irrationality of consumers in stores. In terms of methodological purpose, this study, designed with the perspective of the realist approach of postmodern science, aims to make not only theoretical but also practical contribution to merchandising.In this study using an experimental method, participants were asked to charge the same products. The products for which the participants are priced consist of 5 clothes, the first of them is higher priced and quality; following four products are low-priced and poor quality clothing. While only the first product had a price tag in the experimental group, all products in the control group were presented without a price tag.The experimental group exposed to anchoring charged 390.31% higher –ready to pay- prices for the same products compared to the control group. Moreover, they charged an average of 192.13 TL for products with a market price of 10-20 TL. While these findings show that consumers who are exposed to manipulative anchoring can be more irrational, at the same time, the thinking time of the participants while determining prices was measured and secondary inferences were made accordingly. In this context, while finding a negative correlation between the price cchahrged to the products and the thinking time, using an anchor as a manipulation tool reduces the thinking times. These findings show that anchoring can be used as a manipulation tool.While this study is one of the pioneering studies that uses anchoring theory intensively in the field of merchandising, it is a special study in terms of measuring the use of anchors as a manipulation tool. On the other hand, the research, which is applied by an experimental method, carries the harmony of theory-practice and takes into account the time variable, and carries originality and importance in the field of merchandising.
Institution: Necmettin Erbakan University
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3148491772