This article examines the influence of variables "price information" (presentation), "familiarity with the product" and "schooling" in the buyer’s perception about the relative advantage of price suggestions of products. We considered primarily Prospect Theory and Mental Accounting Theory as background theories. Because it was performed in northeastern Brazil, this study evaluates those theories in different cultural conditions when compared with which has traditionally produced in the management literature in southeastern and southern Brazil. The empirical research consisted of a laboratory experiment with instruction manipulation, in a sample of 192 respondents. Results indicate that the inclusion of the reference price influences buyer perceptions regarding gains and losses involved with the purchase, and the perception of price stimuli varies depending on education and familiarity with the product. In scenarios without the presence of reference prices and high gains and low losses, the integrated version of events is preferable. The inclusion of the reference price in reais and presentation of information in terms of gains and losses combined showed no change in preference for the integrated version, indicating that buyers perceive a loss less painful when higher gain is presented in a single package, rather than perceiving it if the loss was presented alone. Suggestions for future research include the setting of stimuli related to store and displays as moderators of the formation of reference price and subsequent buyer’s perception about the relative advantage of price promotions.
Prospect theory; Mental accounting; Reference price; Experiment; Value perception
