A behavioral model of consumer response to price information

This paper introduces a model of choice that captures heuristics and reference dependence in consumers’ responses to price information. In the model, a product's quality is positively distorted when its price is close to the reference price. The model is consistent with a kinked and upward-sloping demand curve. The price and cross-price elasticities of demand can be positive or negative, asymmetric, and product-dependent. The model provides an explanation for quality-dependent price stickiness, justifies the adoption of complex pricing strategies, and allows for the derivation of closed-form expressions for the optimal price and reference price set by a monopolist. The model is fully characterized by testable restrictions on demand data, offering a method for identifying the reference price.