Balancing Academic Insights and Real-World Pricing Strategies with Russ Winer

Russ Winer is a William H. Joyce Professor of Marketing, Stern School of Business, New York University. His specialties include pricing, new technologies, consumer choice models, and advertising.

In this podcast, Russ discusses the critical role of understanding consumer behavior in pricing decisions, emphasizing the importance of considering how customers will react to price changes. He explains the difference between academic theories and practical applications in marketing and also highlights the growing shift of research from academia to industry, particularly in data-driven fields like marketing, and stresses the need for businesses to stay competitive while balancing consumer protection and profitability.

 

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Gain practical advice on how businesses can align their pricing strategies with consumer behavior for maximum impact.
• Discover the unique perspectives on how academic research shapes real-world marketing practices and why general theories can be a game-changer for business strategies.
• Learn about the challenges and opportunities in both B2B and B2C markets, including data availability, decision-making processes, and competitive pressures.

 

"Don't forget the consumer, or customer, if it's B2B, when you're thinking about the price. How is the customer or consumer going to react when you take this particular action?"

- Russ Winer

 

Topics Covered:

01:48 - One accomplishment that brings Russ great pride

02:13 - Describing his entry into pricing

03:56 - Clarifying that he did not introduce the concept of reference price, though he was the first to incorporate it into empirical models

04:45 - Distinguishing reference pricing from behavioral economics

06:40 - How context influences reference prices, highlighting the relevance of acquisition and transaction utility in pricing

08:08 - Explaining the psychology behind 99-cent pricing

09:50 - Discussing deceptive pricing, highlighting practices like false markdowns in both brick-and-mortar stores and online retail

11:59 - Comparing deceptive pricing to deceptive advertising

14:33 - Differentiating between academics and practice in marketing

17:23 - The data availability challenges between B2C and B2B research

20:20 - Reflecting on the shift of research dominance from academia to industry

25:44 -  How marketers' strategies to influence reference prices are not inherently harmful to consumers 

28:14 - Russ's one best pricing advice

 

Key Takeaways:

“It's not just the firm side that's important when we think about pricing, it's also the consumer side, how they react to the prices that we're putting in the marketplace.” - Russ Winer

 

People/Resources Mentioned:

• Bob Lucas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lucas_Jr.
• Richard Thaler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Thaler
• Dan Kahneman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman
• Amos Tversky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Tversky
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com
• Google: https://www.google.com/
• Campbells: https://www.campbells.com/

 

Connect with Russ Winer:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-winer-4b69b7/
• Email: rwiner@stern.nyu.edu

 

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: mark@impactpricing.com