How do consumers experience price expressed in cups of coffee? In my thesis, I address the advertising strategy known as explicit comparisons, which has received minimal research attention. In doing so, I draw on framing literature with a focus on temporal reframing, the precursor to explicit comparisons that splits the price into smaller units to increase perceived value and encourage purchase. I run a 2×3 between-subjects experiment where the first independent variable is the product (€15 water bottle or €75 headphones), the second independent variable is the price frame (aggregate, cups of coffee, or a combination of the two), and the dependent variable is perceived value, assessed with a variation of the Perceived Value Indicators questionnaire. Each condition contains its own advertisement. One message, for example, reads Wireless headphones – yours for the price of 50 cups of coffee (€75). Based on a sample of 243 adults, I offer three findings. First, explicit comparisons have no effect on perceived value. Second, with the joint price frame, the perceived value of the lower-priced product is higher than that of the higher-priced product. Third, familiarity with prices in the advertised product category is not correlated with perceived value. Participants from the experimental conditions also provide descriptive feedback. Via thematic analysis, I uncover ten themes, including positive response (e.g., usefulness, tangibility), negative response (e.g., deception, confusion), and shortcomings (e.g., price relativity, high multiple). While the second and third provide insight into the aforementioned quantitative results, the first shows the potential of explicit comparisons – say, in the context of nudging. In this regard, the joint price frame is preferable to cups of coffee only, as it is more transparent and easier to evaluate. Future empirical research could rely on more advanced digital tools and include more experimental conditions in terms of product, framing, and price.
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