Price is often misunderstood, especially by many
executives. Consumers do not object to price.What
they object to is the lack of a relationship between
the perceived value of the product and the price
being charged. They want a fair price, and a fair
price can be either high or low as long as it reflects
the perceived value of the product in question.Too
high a price causes consumers to resist making a
purchase because the value is not there.
Price can be absolutely high from a cost stand-
point yet relatively low from a demand standpoint,
in relation to its value and other features.Therefore,
price must be lower than the perceived value or
exactly reflect the perceived value. For example, a
markdown may be needed for damaged or obsolete
goods, but a “high” price may appear to be quite rea-
sonable when extra value is added to a product.
Consumers around the world do not mind a high
price if they indeed “get what they pay for.”
However, this is often not the case.
PRICE STANDARDIZATION
One area of pricing that has received some atten-
tion is the issue of pricing standardization. A study
of the marketing mix by large US-based industrial
firms in their Latin American businesses found that
the degree of standardization varied across individ-
ual elements, with branding and product being
least adapted. Perhaps because of government
regulations, price and advertising elements were
most adapted. In comparison with the same firms’
European and Latin American strategies, price was
similarly adapted in both regions.
2
According to one study, most American multi-
national firms standardize their prices in most world
markets because they are probably cost driven.
3
Due to market variations, one has to wonder why
these firms are inflexible and whether they have
been successful overseas. Perhaps these firms have
been able to be rigid due to the fact that they do not
rely on foreign sales very much and that they do
business primarily with industrialized countries. In
contrast, those companies that are more committed
to international business localize their prices and are
more successful overseas.
Whether price should be uniform worldwide is
a subject of much debate. One school of thought
holds that, from the management’s viewpoint, there
is no reason for an export price to differ from the
home price. In addition, economists believe that
arbitrage will eliminate any price differential
between markets.This is especially the case with the
European Union due to the free movement of
goods, the elimination of customs barriers, and the
harmonization of VAT rates. In addition, the free
movement of people will enable them to easily
observe prices of the same products in neighboring
countries. As a result, internationally recognized
consumer goods with wide European distribution
are likely to have a more uniform pricing system.
A multinational corporation needs to coordinate
prices across its multiple markets – without violat-
ing national laws. A study of South Korean,
Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Singaporean firms
operating in Europe found that they had closer rela-
tionships with their parent firms and that they had
greater autonomy in strategy and pricing decisions.
4
In the case of Nintendo, it was fined $147 million
by the European Commission for price collusion
with seven European distributors. The company
organized a cartel that operated from 1991 to 1998,
and it allowed companies to keep prices for its
games and game consoles artificially high in certain
countries.These distributors agreed to refuse to sell
to buyers from the other European countries,
resulting in extraordinarily wide differences in
prices among countries.
5
PRICING DECISIONS
Pricing is one area of marketing that has been largely
overlooked. Of the four Ps of marketing, pricing is
probably the one that receives the least attention,
especially in an international context.
One problem with an investigation of pricing
decisions is that theories are few and vague. Most of
the theories that do exist reduce the large number
of pricing variables to a discussion of demand and
supply. Because the few theories are inadequate,
many pricing decisions are based on intuition, trial
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PRICING STRATEGIES