The effects of discount level, price consciousness and sale proneness on consumers' price perception and behavioral intention

Previous research concerning external reference prices focused on outcome variables and contextual variables that influence them. Missing from the literature is sufficient assessment of the effect of individual difference variables. The current research examines two individual difference variables (price consciousness and sale proneness) along with discount level and their relationship with consumers' outcome evaluations of offer value, search intention and purchase intention. Results suggest that consumers' level of sale proneness influences their evaluation of all three outcome variables, while price consciousness influences only search intention. Additionally, significant interaction effects were found between discount level and price consciousness and between price consciousness and sale proneness. Implications for managers and future research directions are also discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.