Assessing the Impact of Price-Matching Guarantees and Price Fluctuations on Consumer Feedback: Insights from the Online Consumer Electronics Market

Assessing the Impact of Price-Matching Guarantees and Price Fluctuations on Consumer Feedback: Insights from the Online Consumer Electronics Market | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessing the Impact of Price-Matching Guarantees and Price Fluctuations on Consumer Feedback: Insights from the Online Consumer Electronics Market Simone Robbiano, Gianluca Cerruti This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4800672/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Our study investigates the impact of price matching guarantees (PMGs) on consumer behavior in online retail markets. Leveraging a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach, we analyze product ratings in response to price changes during PMG policy periods. Results show that PMGs alone have no significant effect on ratings, but price increases during PMG periods lead to lower ratings. Furthermore, the effect strengthens over time, particularly for cheaper and less visible products. These findings suggest that PMGs may serve as effective market signals of pricing strategy, especially for items where price sensitivity is higher or visibility is lower. This underscores the importance of signaling mechanisms in influencing consumer perceptions and responses in online retail settings. From an antitrust perspective, our results highlight the potential for PMGs to influence competition dynamics and consumer welfare. Policymakers may need to consider regulations ensuring pricing transparency and consumer protection in online markets, balancing the benefits of market signaling with the risks of anti-competitive behavior and consumer harm. Overall, our study contributes to the understanding of pricing strategies and consumer behavior in digital markets, with implications for both industry practices and regulatory interventions. JEL Codes: L11, L81 Behavioral Economics Microeconomics Price-Matching Guarantees Online Retailing Online Consumers Review Difference-in-Differences Signaling Theory Pricing Retail Tactics Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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