Disfluent vs. fluent price offers: paradoxical role of processing disfluency

• Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 627 - 638
• Main Authors: Motyka, Scott, Suri, Rajneesh, Grewal, Dhruv, Kohli, Chiranjeev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-09-2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavior; Business and Management; Consumer behavior; Consumer preferences; Decision making; Marketing; Original Empirical Research; Preferences; Prices; Pricing; Purchasing; Social Sciences; Studies; United States; Price perception; Fluency; Disfluency; Decision making
• ISSN: 0092-0703; 1552-7824
• DOI: 10.1007/s11747-015-0459-0

Conventional wisdom and prior research on processing fluency suggest that consumers prefer fluent information, such that it has positive effects on their purchase decisions. Challenging this conventional wisdom, and on the basis of recent research on processing disfluency, this study proposes that the increased effort required to process disfluent price information can lead to deeper information processing. If the advertised price offer represents a good value, it can enhance purchase decisions, even if customers prefer the disfluent display less. A series of studies in the field and lab demonstrate support for this positive impact of disfluent price information on purchase decisions.