When consumers cope with price-persuasion knowledge: The role of topic knowledge

We identify the circumstances under which consumers' beliefs about the persuasive intent of alternative pricing formats influence their preferences for offers using those formats. First, we assessed the existence of actual persuasion knowledge for partitioned and inclusive pricing formats. In a second study, we tested hypotheses relating to persuasion knowledge and offer choice. Results indicate that consumers choose offers with the price format they perceive as having less persuasive intent. More important, this effect was stronger when participants were unfamiliar with the target product category, but disappeared when consumers perceived the price as unfair.