Balancing Academic Insights and Real-World Pricing Strategies with Russ Winer

Russ Winer is a William H. Joyce Professor of Marketing, Stern School of Business, New York University. His specialties include pricing, new technologies, consumer choice models, and advertising. In this podcast, Russ discusses the critical role of understanding consumer behavior in pricing decisions, emphasizing the importance of considering how customers will react to price changes. He explains the difference between academic theories and practical applications in marketing and also highlights the growing shift of research from academia to industry, particularly in data-driven fields like marketing, and stresses the need for businesses to stay competitive while balancing consumer protection and profitability.   Why you have to check out today’s podcast: Gain practical advice on how businesses can align their pricing strategies with consumer behavior for maximum impact. Discover the unique perspectives on how academic research shapes real-world marketing practices and why general theories can be a game-changer for business strategies. Learn about the challenges and opportunities in both B2B and B2C markets, including data availability, decision-making processes, and competitive pressures.   "Don't forget the consumer, or customer, if it's B2B, when you're thinking about the price. How is the customer or consumer going to react when you take this particular action?" - Russ Winer   Topics Covered: 01:48 - One accomplishment that brings Russ great pride 02:13 - Describing his entry into pricing 03:56 - Clarifying that he did not introduce the concept of reference price, though he was the first to incorporate it into empirical models 04:45 - Distinguishing reference pricing from behavioral economics 06:40 - How context influences reference prices, highlighting the relevance of acquisition and transaction utility in pricing 08:08 - Explaining the psychology behind 99-cent pricing 09:50 - Discussing deceptive pricing, highlighting practices like false markdowns in both brick-and-mortar stores and online retail 11:59 - Comparing deceptive pricing to deceptive advertising 14:33 - Differentiating between academics and practice in marketing 17:23 - The data availability challenges between B2C and B2B research 20:20 - Reflecting on the shift of research dominance from academia to industry 25:44 -  How marketers' strategies to influence reference prices are not inherently harmful to consumers  28:14 - Russ's one best pricing advice   Key Takeaways: “It's not just the firm side that's important when we think about pricing, it's also the consumer side, how they react to the prices that we're putting in the marketplace.” - Russ Winer   People/Resources Mentioned: Bob Lucas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lucas_Jr. Richard Thaler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Thaler Dan Kahneman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman Amos Tversky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Tversky Facebook: https://www.facebook.com Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com Google: https://www.google.com/ Campbells: https://www.campbells.com/   Connect with Russ Winer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-winer-4b69b7/ Email: [email protected]   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: [email protected]