To sell or not to sell? Pricing strategies of newly-graduated artists

The paper investigates the pricing strategies of newly-graduated artists and identifies innovative strategies more suited to achieving sustainable practice. Our work is novel in investigating the drivers of discrepancies between artists' willingness-to-accept (WTA) and potential customers' willingness-to-pay (WTP). Using mixed-methods, we explore the viewpoints of the 'public', by survey, and of 'newly-graduated artists' and 'intermediaries', by interviews, and interrogate price lists and sales records. Newly-graduated artists find pricing challenging, leading to 'underpricing' or 'over-pricing'. Few artists make sales, reflecting discrepancies between WTA and WTP. Our work has theoretical and practical implications. Pricing reflects the 'endowment effect' (Thaler, 1980) and Bourdieu's 'avant-garde' circuit. Our results imply a need for educational institutions and other intermediaries to offer more advice to newly-graduated artists who might benefit from adopting forms of personalized or participative pricing such as 'Pay What You Want' and, given the emergence of digital markets, contemporary techniques such as 'action rules'.

Automated summary

This paper investigates pricing strategies of newly-graduated artists and proposes innovative strategies for sustainable practice. The study reveals challenges in pricing for these artists and suggests the need for educational institutions and intermediaries to offer more pricing advice. Personalized or participative pricing forms, such as 'Pay What You Want', can be beneficial for these artists.