Ticket pricing in professional sports is transitioning from a cost-based to demand-based approach. It has been argued that consumer perceptions of fairness regarding demand-based ticket pricing could influence purchase decisions. Perceptions of unfair pricing practices can lead to dissatisfaction and negatively affect purchase behavior. However, familiarity with demand-based pricing strategies could mitigate perceptions that real-time price fluctuations are unfair to the consumer. Guided by transaction utility theory, the current study examined the relationship between various ticket offers, consumer perceptions of fairness, familiarity, and intentions to purchase professional sports tickets. The findings support previous theory suggesting perceptions of fairness and purchase intentions differ based on specific transaction conditions. Source of the ticket, reference price, and familiarity played a role in these perceptions. This study extends the body of knowledge in sport consumer behavior by highlighting the value of fairness perceptions, familiarity, reference price, source of the ticket, and the use of price as a marketing tool.
BeardenW. O., KaickerA., BorreroM. S., & UrbanyJ. E. (1992). Examining alternative operational measures of internal reference price. Advances in Consumer Research, 19, 629–635.
2.
BiswasA., WilsonE. J., & LicataJ. W. (1993). Reference pricing studies in marketing: A synthesis of research results. Journal of Business Research, 27, 239–256.
3.
BoltonL. E., & AlbaJ. W. (2006). Price fairness: Good and service differences and the role of vendor costs. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 258–265.
4.
BoltonL. E., WarlopL., & AlbaJ. W. (2003). Consumer perceptions of price (un)fairness. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 474–491.
5.
CampbellM. C. (1999). Perceptions of price unfairness. Journal of Marketing Research, 36, 187–199.
6.
CampbellM. C. (2007). Says who?! How the source of price information and affect influence perceived price (un)fairness. Journal of Marketing Research, 44, 261–271.
7.
CarmonZ., & ArielyD. (2000). Focusing on the forgone: How value can appear so different to buyers and sellers. Journal of Consumer Research, 27, 360–370.
8.
ChaudhuriA. (2009). Experiments in economics: Playing fair with money. New York, NY: Routledge.
9.
CourtyP. (2003). Some economics of ticket resale. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17, 85–97.
10.
DowlingJ. M., & Chin-FangY. (2007). Modern developments in behavioral economics: Social science perspectives on choice and decision making. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific.
11.
DrayerJ., & MartinN. T. (2010). Establishing legitimacy in the secondary ticket market: A case study of an NFL market. Sport Management Review, 13, 39–49.
12.
DrayerJ., & RascherD. (2013). Sport pricing research. Past, present, and future. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 22, 123–128.
13.
DrayerJ., & ShapiroS. L. (2011). An examination into the factors that influence consumers’ perceptions of value. Sport Management Review, 14, 389–398.
14.
DrayerJ., ShapiroS. L., & LeeS. (2012). Dynamic ticket pricing in sport: An agenda for research and practice. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 21, 184–194.
15.
DwyerB., DrayerJ., & ShapiroS. L. (2013). Proceed to checkout? The impact of time in advanced ticket purchase decisions. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 22, 166–180.
16.
FehrE., & SchmidtK. M. (2004). A theory of fairness, competition, and cooperation. In CamererC. F., LoewensteinG., & RabinM. (Eds.), Advances in behavioral economics (pp. 271–296). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
17.
GefenD. (2000). E-commerce: The role of familiarity and trust. Omega, 28, 725–737.
18.
GreenwellT. C., BrownleeE., JordanJ. S., & PoppN. (2008). Service fairness in spectator sport: The importance of voice and choice on customer satisfaction. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 17, 71–78.
19.
GuthW., SchmittbergerR., & SchwarzeB. (1982). An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 3, 367–388.
20.
KahnemanD. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics. The American Economic Review, 93, 1448–1475.
21.
KahnemanD., KnetschJ. L., & ThalerR. H. (1986). Fairness as a constraint on profit seeking: Entitlements in the market. American Economic Review, 76, 728–741.
22.
KimesS. E. (1994). Perceived fairness of revenue management. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 28, 22–29.
23.
KimesS. E., & WirtzJ. (2003a). Has revenue management become acceptable? Findings from an international study on the perceived fairness of rate fences. Journal of Service Research, 6, 125–135.
24.
KimesS. E., & WirtzJ. (2003b). Perceived fairness of revenue management in the U.S. golf industry. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 1, 322–344.
25.
KrautmannA. C. & BerriS. B. (2007). Can we find it at the concessions? Understanding price elasticity in professional sports. Journal of Sports Economics, 8, 183–191.
26.
MaxwellS. (2002). Rule-based price fairness and its effect on willingness to purchase. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23, 191–212.
27.
MaxwellS. (2005). Hyperchoice and high prices: An unfair combination. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 14, 448–454.
MoeW. W., FaderP. S., & KahnB. (2011). Buying tickets: Capturing the dynamic factors that drive consumer purchase decision for sporting events. Presentation at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Boston, MA.
30.
OhH. (2000). The effect of brand class, brand awareness, and price on customer value and behavioral intentions. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 24, 136–162.
31.
PaulR. J., & WeinbachA. P. (2013). Determinants of dynamic pricing premiums in Major League Baseball. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 22, 152–165.
32.
PeetzT. B., & ReamsL. (2011). A content analysis of Sport Marketing Quarterly: 1992-2011. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 20, 209–218.
33.
RabinM. (2004). Incorporating fairness into game theory and economics. In CamererC. F., LoewensteinG., & RabinM. (Eds.), Advances in behavioral economics (pp. 297–325). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
34.
RascherD. A., McEvoyC. D., NagelM. S., & BrownM. T. (2007). Variable ticket pricing in Major League Baseball. Journal of Sport Management, 21, 407–437.
RuffleB. J. (1998). More is better, but fair is fair: Tipping in dictator and ultimatum games. Games and Economic Behavior, 23, 247–265.
37.
ShapiroS. L., & DrayerJ. (2012). A new age of demand-based pricing: An examination of dynamic ticket pricing and secondary market prices in Major League Baseball. Journal of Sport Management, 26, 532–546.
38.
ShapiroS. L., & DrayerJ. (2014). An examination of dynamic ticket pricing and secondary market price determinants in Major League Baseball. Sport Management Review, 17, 145–159.
39.
ShengS., BaoY., & PanY. (2007). Partitioning or bundling? Perceived fairness of the surcharge makes a difference. Psychology & Marketing, 24, 1025–1041.
40.
SimonH.A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69, 99–118.
41.
SimonH. A. (1972). Theories of bounded rationality. In McGuireC. B. & RadnerR. (Eds.), Decision and organization: A volume in honor of Jacob Marschak (pp. 161–176). New York, NY: American Elsevier Publishing Company.
42.
SimonH. A. (1982). Models of bounded rationality. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
43.
ThalerR. H. (1983). Transaction utility theory. Advances in Consumer Research, 10, 229–232.
44.
ThalerR. H. (1985). Mental accounting and consumer choice. Marketing Science, 4, 199–214.
45.
ThalerR. H. (1999). Mental accounting matters. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12, 183–206.
TrailG. T., AndersonD. F., & FinkJ. S. (2000). A theoretical model of sport spectator consumption behavior. International Journal of Sport Management, 1, 154–180.
48.
VaidyanathanR., & AggarwalP. (2003). Who is the fairest of them all? An attributional approach to price fairness perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 56, 453–463.
49.
WatanabeN. M., SoebbingB. P., & WickerP. (2013). Examining the impact of the StubHub agreement on price dispersion in Major League Baseball. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 22, 129–137.
50.
WinerR. S. (1988). Behavioral perspective on pricing: Buyers’ subjective perceptions of price Revisited. In DevinneyT (Ed.), Issues in pricing: Theory and research (pp. 35–58). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
51.
WirtzJ., & KimesS. E. (2007). The moderating role of familiarity in fairness perceptions of revenue management pricing. Journal of Service Research, 9, 229–240.
52.
XiaL., MonroeK. B., & CoxJ. L. (2004). The price is unfair! A conceptual framework of price fairness perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), 1–15.
53.
XiaL., & MonroeK. B. (2008). Perceived price fairness and perceived transaction value. European Advances in Consumer Research, 8, 394.
54.
XiaL., & MonroeK. B. (2010). Is a good deal always fair? Examining the concepts of transaction value and price fairnessJournal of Economic Psychology, 31, 884–894.
