Hurdles As Part Of A Price Discrimination Strategy

Some new content has been added to the Beyond Cost Plus website that looks at the concept of hurdles and how they can be an important part of a complete price discrimination strategy.

In addition to a definition of hurdles (in the context of price discrimination) the new content includes a detailed look at the way a product attribute (in this case color) is effectively used as a hurdle in a promotion that offers special discounted pricing on a specific color or digital thermometer.

It's the specific color part that makes it interesting. If the discount was applied equally to all colors it wouldn't be so fascinating. The fact that the discount only applies to one specific color – which is convincingly described as the least popular color – that makes it a great example of a hurdle used as part of a differential pricing strategy. By limiting discounts to the least desirable color the seller makes sure that only customers who are very focussed on price – and less likely to pay full price – get the discount.

The ad is also interesting because it so beautifully employs some of the concepts explored by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his published works on persuasion and influence.