I read a great paper this morning concerning the use of online coupon codes. It struck a cord with me when the author described people abandoning shopping carts that ask for coupon codes because I’ve actually done this on several occasions. Several times I have gotten to the final checkout screen and the website asks if I have a coupon code. This is a psychologically distressing event because I feel that I am not taking advantage of a potential offer, so I scour the Internet trying to find a coupon code on one of those deal sites. If I don’t find one, I may completely abondon the sale. If I do find a coupon code, the intention of segmentation via price discrimination really didn’t work for the seller. There is some other interesting topics discussed in this paper and a bunch of fancy-pants geeky equations. Go here for the paper:
Price Discrimination through Online Couponing:
Impact on Likelihood of Purchase and Profitability
-Martin