The Price Entitlement Effect: When and Why High Price Entitles Consumers to Purchase Socially Costly Products

<jats:p> This research investigates when and why consumers purchase products with social costs (e.g., environmental harm). Six studies demonstrate that upper-class consumers are more likely to purchase a product with social costs when it has a higher price due to experiencing greater entitlement, which we term ‘the price entitlement effect,’ allowing for purchase justification. In contrast, lower-class consumers do not feel entitled to purchase a product with social costs when it is higher-priced. This effect occurs because upper-class consumers tend to have a greater self-focus with a higher price entitling them to more resources than others. Consistent with the entitlement mechanism, when egalitarian values are made salient, the price entitlement effect is mitigated, reducing upper-class consumers’ purchase of socially costly products. Notably, the price entitlement effect occurs only when products have social costs rather than for all higher-priced products. However, when the social costs of a product are severe, price entitlement does not sufficiently justify product purchase. This research provides theoretical and practical insights regarding when and why higher price entitles purchase of socially costly products, contributing to research on social class and socially responsible (vs. costly) consumption as well as choice justification. /jats:p

Saerom Lee et al, EXPRESS: The Price Entitlement Effect: When and Why High Price Entitles Consumers to Purchase Socially Costly Products, Journal of Marketing Research (, ) pp. . Copyright © 2022. DOI: 10.1177/00222437221094301. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission.

Files

Metadata

Work Title The Price Entitlement Effect: When and Why High Price Entitles Consumers to Purchase Socially Costly Products
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Saerom Lee
  2. Karen Page Winterich
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. SAGE Publications
Publication Date April 1, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1177/00222437221094301
Source
  1. Journal of Marketing Research
Deposited May 27, 2022

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Price-entitlement JMR-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Saerom Lee
  • Added Creator Karen Page Winterich
  • Published
  • Updated