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The Periodicity of Pricing

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bronnenberg, BJ; Mela, CF; Boulding, W
Published in: Journal of Marketing Research
August 2006

Retail pricing data combine multiple decisions (e.g., regular pricing and discounting) that are possibly made by multiple decision makers (e.g., retailers and manufacturers). For example, temporary price reductions (high-frequency price changes) can be used to price discriminate in the short run, whereas regular price adjustments (low-frequency price changes) might reflect changes in long-term costs or demand. Time disaggregation cannot disentangle these factors, because frequency aggregation exists even when data are analyzed at the lowest possible level of temporal aggregation. Because little is known about the nature of pricing interactions across various planning cycles, this article develops several empirical generalizations about the role of periodicity in pricing. Using week-store stockkeeping-unit-level price data in 35 grocery categories, the authors find that (1) cross-brand correlation in prices occurs at multiple planning horizons, and the planning horizon of the predominant interaction does not typically coincide with the sampling rate of the data; (2) aggregating pricing interactions across frequencies obscures distinct and different interactions; (3) pricing interactions are related to category- and brand-specific factors, such as mean interpurchase times; (4) regular price changes explain most of the variation in prices; and (5) periodicity can affect inferences about the nature of competition within a category. The authors conclude by discussing several practical marketing applications for which marketing decisions across frequencies have relevance.

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Published In

Journal of Marketing Research

DOI

EISSN

1547-7193

ISSN

0022-2437

Publication Date

August 2006

Volume

43

Issue

3

Start / End Page

477 / 493

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1505 Marketing
 

Citation

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Bronnenberg, B. J., Mela, C. F., & Boulding, W. (2006). The Periodicity of Pricing. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(3), 477–493. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.3.477
Bronnenberg, Bart J., Carl F. Mela, and William Boulding. “The Periodicity of Pricing.” Journal of Marketing Research 43, no. 3 (August 2006): 477–93. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.3.477.
Bronnenberg BJ, Mela CF, Boulding W. The Periodicity of Pricing. Journal of Marketing Research. 2006 Aug;43(3):477–93.
Bronnenberg, Bart J., et al. “The Periodicity of Pricing.” Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 43, no. 3, SAGE Publications, Aug. 2006, pp. 477–93. Crossref, doi:10.1509/jmkr.43.3.477.
Bronnenberg BJ, Mela CF, Boulding W. The Periodicity of Pricing. Journal of Marketing Research. SAGE Publications; 2006 Aug;43(3):477–493.

Published In

Journal of Marketing Research

DOI

EISSN

1547-7193

ISSN

0022-2437

Publication Date

August 2006

Volume

43

Issue

3

Start / End Page

477 / 493

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1505 Marketing