A systematic literature review of the Pay-What-You-Want pricing under PRISMA protocol

• Oktay Güzel ^[1] ; Emili Vizuete-Luciano ^[1] ; José María Merigó-Lindahl ^[2]
  1. [1] Universitat de Barcelona

     Universitat de Barcelona

     Barcelona, España

     
  2. [2] University of Technology

     University of Technology

     Rusia

     
• Localización: European Research on Management and Business Economics, ISSN 2444-8834, Vol. 31, Nº. 1, 2025, págs. 20-33
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.iedeen.2024.100266
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • This study aims to systematically examine the Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing model, which has become increasingly popular among innovative strategies. The PWYW model offers an unconventional approach by giving consumers the power to determine the price they want for the goods or services provided. However, the scattered nature of existing research makes it challenging to understand this model's dynamics fully. Using the PRISMA protocol, this systematic review of 106 articles reveals the key actors, theoretical frameworks used, and methodological trends in the known aspects of the field. In addition, the findings highlight the potential advantages of PWYW pricing (e.g., transparency and customer preference) while revealing critical gaps in the current knowledge. This study is important because it provides a holistic perspective on the PWYW pricing model literature, which seems to be a significant deficiency. The study emphasizes the need to investigate understudied areas, such as the sustainability of PWYW and the interaction of factors affecting payment behaviors. This review guides how PWYW practices can be managed effectively in a changing business world, helping businesses navigate their future implementation.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 267–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60108-2...
  • Aspers, P., & Corte, U. (2019). What is qualitative in qualitative research. Qualitative Sociology, 42(2), 139–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-019-9413-7...
  • Atasoy, O., & Morewedge, C. K. (2018). Digital goods are valued less than physical goods. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(6), 1343–1357....
  • Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 248–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978...
  • Barros, C. L., & Sousa, B. M. (2019). Price and marketing strategy in tourism contexts: A preliminary study to mitigating seasonality....
  • Bearden, W. O., & Rose, R. L. (1990). Attention to social comparison information: An individual difference factor affecting consumer conformity....
  • Bitsch, L., Hanf, J. H., & Rüdiger, J. (2020). An innovative price-setting approach: A Pay- What-You-Want experiment. British Food Journal,...
  • Booth, A., Papaioannou, D., & Sutton, A. (2012). Systematic approaches to a successful literature review. SAGE Publications.
  • B¨ ohm, R., & Regner, T. (2013). Charitable giving among females and males: An empirical test of the competitive altruism hypothesis....
  • Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press.
  • Carter, R. E., & Curry, D. J. (2010). Transparent pricing: Theory, tests, and implications for marketing practice. Journal of the Academy...
  • Chao, Y., Fernandez, J., & Nahata, B. (2015). Pay-What-You-Want pricing: Can it be profitable? Journal of Behavioral and Experimental...
  • Chawan, V. (2019). A Pay-What-You-Want pricing model for restaurants. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 32(4),...
  • Chen, Y, Koenigsberg, O., & Zhang, J. Z. (2017). Pay-as-you-wish pricing. Marketing Science, 36(5), 780–791. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2017.1032...
  • Christopher, R. M., & Machado, F. S. (2019). Consumer response to design variations in Pay-What-You-Want pricing. Journal of the Academy...
  • Chung, J. Y. (2017). Price fairness and PWYW (pay what you want): A behavioral economics perspective. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management,...
  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE Publications.
  • Cui, A. P., & Wiggins, J. (2017). What you ask changes what I pay: Framing effects in pay what you want pricing. Journal of Marketing...
  • Dekker, T. J. (2018). Just wages, desert, and Pay-What-You-Want pricing. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 11(2), 144–162. https://doi.org/10.23941/...
  • Egbert, H., Greiff, M., & Xhangolli, K. (2015). Pay What You Want (PWYW) pricing ex- post consumption: A sales strategy for experience...
  • El Harbi, S., Grolleau, G., & Bekir, I. (2014). Substituting piracy with a Pay-What-You- Want option: Does it make sense? European Journal...
  • Fowler, K., & Thomas, V. L. (2019). Pay-What-You-Want with charitable giving positively impacts retailers. Journal of Services Marketing,...
  • Gerpott, T. J., & Schneider, C. (2016). Buying behaviors when similar products are available under Pay-What-You-Want and posted price...
  • Gneezy, U., Riener, G., & Nelson, L. D. (2012). Pay-What-You-Want, identity, and self-signaling in markets. Proceedings of the National...
  • Gneezy, U., Nelson, L. D., & Brown, A. (2010). Shared social responsibility: A f ield experiment in Pay-What-You-Want pricing and charitable...
  • Gravert, C. (2017). Pride and patronage - Pay-What-You-Want pricing at a charitable bookstore. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics,...
  • Groening, C., & Mills, P. (2017). A guide to pay-what-you-wish pricing from the consumer’s viewpoint. Business Horizons, 60(4), 441–445....
  • Gross, H. P., Rottler, M., & Wallmeier, F. (2021). The influence of external reference price strategies in a nonprofit arts organization’s...
  • Gryz, A. K., Zag´orska, K., & Szewczyk, P. (2022). Cross-cultural differences in voluntary payment decisions. Evidence from guided tours....
  • Gupta, M., Esmaeilzadeh, P., Uz, I., & Tennant, V. M. (2019). The effects of national cultural values on individuals’ intention to participate...
  • Harrer, M., Cuijpers, P., Furukawa, T. A., & Ebert, D. D. (2021). Doing meta-analysis with R: A hands-on guide (1st ed.). New York: Chapmand...
  • Helson, H. (1964). Current trends and issues in adaptation-level theory. American Psychologist, 19(1), 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040013...
  • Heyman, J., & Ariely, D. (2004). Effort for payment: A tale of two markets. Psychological Science, 15(11), 787–793. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00757.x...
  • Hofmann, E., et al. (2021). Who is Watching me? Disentangling audience and interpersonal closeness effects in a Pay-What-You-Want context....
  • Hunt, S. D., & Madhavaram, S. (2020). Adaptive marketing capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and renewal competences: The “outside vs....
  • Isaac, R. M., Lightle, J. P., & Norton, D. A. (2015). The Pay-What-You-Like business model: Warm glow revenues and endogenous price discrimination....
  • Jin, H. J., Choi, B. Y., & Che, Y. R. (2022). Effects of various charitable contribution ratios under Pay-What-You-Want on art museum...
  • Johnson, J. W., & Cui, A. P. (2013). To influence or not to influence: External reference price strategies in Pay-What-You-Want pricing....
  • Johnsen, T. E., Miemczyk, J., & Howard, M. (2017). A systematic literature review of sustainable purchasing and supply research. Theoretical...
  • Jung, M. H., Perfecto, H., & Nelson, L. D. (2016). Anchoring in payment: Evaluating a judgmental heuristic in field experimental settings....
  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185...
  • Kim, P. B., & Chon, K. (2018). Review of reviews: A systematic analysis of review papers in the hospitality and tourism literature. International...
  • Kim, J. Y., Kaufmann, K., & Stegemann, M. (2013). The impact of buyer–seller relationships and reference prices on the effectiveness of...
  • Kim, J. Y., Natter, M., & Spann, M. (2014). Sampling, discounts or Pay-What-You-Want: Two field experiments. International Journal of...
  • Kim, J. Y., Natter, M., & Spann, M. (2009). Pay What You Want: A new participative pricing mechanism. Journal of Marketing, 73, 44–58....
  • Kr¨ amer, F., Schmidt, K. M., Spann, M., & Stich, L. (2017). Delegating pricing power to customers: Pay What You Want or Name your own...
  • Kumar, A., Shankar, R., & Aljohani, N. R. (2020). A big data driven framework for demand-driven forecasting with effects of marketing-mix...
  • Kunter, M. (2015). Exploring the Pay-What-You-Want payment motivation. Journal of Business Research, 68(11), 2347–2357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j....
  • Khurshid, H., & Snell, R. S. (2021). Examining mechanisms for creating shared value by Asian firms. Journal of Business Research, 129,...
  • Liberman, N., & F¨orster, J. (2009). Distancing from experienced self: How global-versus- local perception affects estimation of psychological...
  • Li˜ n´an, F., & Fayolle, A. (2015). A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: Citation, thematic analyses, and research...
  • Lovett, F. (2006). Rational choice theory and explanation. Rationality and Society, 18(2), 237–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463106060155...
  • Lynn, M., Flynn, M. S., & Helion, C. (2013). Do consumers prefer round prices? Evidence from Pay-What-You-Want decisions and self-pumped...
  • Makarova, E., & Todorovic, N. (2020). Value chain management as essentials of pricing strategy for digital marketing companies. Izvestiya...
  • Mandler, T., Sezen, B., Chen, J., & ¨ Ozsomer, A. (2021). Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic...
  • Mendoza-Abarca, K. I., & Mellema, H. N. (2016). Aligning economic and social value creation through Pay-What-You-Want pricing. Journal...
  • Narwal, P., Nayak, J. K., & Rai, S. (2022). Assessing customers’ moral disengagement from reciprocity concerns in participative pricing....
  • Narwal, P., & Rai, S. (2022). Individual differences and moral disengagement in Pay- What-You-Want pricing. Journal of Business Research,...
  • Natter, M., & Kaufmann, K. (2015). Voluntary market payments: Underlying motives, success drivers and success potentials. Journal of Behavioral...
  • Nelson, L. D., & Brown, A. (2010). Shared social responsibility: A field experiment in Pay- What-You-Want pricing and charitable giving....
  • Page, M. J., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews, 10(1), 89....
  • Palmatier, R. W., Houston, M. B., & Hulland, J. (2018). Review articles: Purpose, process, and structure. Journal of the Academy of Marketing...
  • Park, S., Nam, S., & Lee, J. (2017). Charitable giving, suggestion, and learning from others: Pay-What-You-Want experiments at a coffee...
  • Paschou, T., Rapaccini, M., Adrodegari, F., & Saccani, N. (2020). Digital servitization in manufacturing: A systematic literature review...
  • Pigou, A. C. (1920). The economics of welfare. London: Macmillan.
  • Rabbanee, F. K., Roy, R., & Sharma, P. (2022). Contextual differences in the moderating effects of price consciousness and social desirability...
  • Regner, T. (2015). Why consumers pay voluntarily: Evidence from online music. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 57, 205–214....
  • Reisman, R., Payne, A., & Frow, P. (2019). Pricing in consumer digital markets: A dynamic framework. Australasian Marketing Journal, 27(3),...
  • Riener, G., & Traxler, C. (2012). Norms, Moods, and Free Lunch: Longitudinal Evidence on Payments from a Pay-What-You-Want Restaurant....
  • Ross, D. G., & Shin, M. (2023). Pay-What-You-Want pricing: Creating and capturing value through social exchange. Academy of Management...
  • Roy, R. (2015). An insight into Pay-What-You-Want pricing. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(5), 733–748. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-06-2014-0118...
  • Roy, R., & Das, G. (2022). The role of contextual factors in increasing Pay-What-You- Want payments: Evidence from field experiments....
  • Roy, R., Rabbanee, F. K., & Sharma, P. (2016). Exploring the interactions among external reference price, social visibility and purchase...
  • Roy, R., Sharma, P., Chan, R. Y. K., & Potdar, V. (2021). Exploring the role of spotlight effect in Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) pricing—An...
  • S´anchez-Fern´ andez, R., & Iniesta-Bonillo, M. (2007). The concept of perceived value: A systematic review of the research. Marketing...
  • Santana, S., & Morwitz, V. G. (2021). The role of gender in Pay-What-You-Want contexts. Journal of Marketing Research, 58(2), 265–281....
  • Schmidt, K. M., Spann, M., & Zeithammer, R. (2015). Pay What You Want as a marketing strategy in monopolistic and competitive markets....
  • Schons, L. M., Rese, M., Wieske, J., Rasmussen, W., Weber, D., & Strotmann, W. C. (2014). There is nothing permanent except change—analyzing...
  • Schr¨ oder, M., Lüer, A., & Sadrieh, A. (2015). Pay-What-You-Want or mark-off-your-own- price – A framing effect in customer-selected...
  • Sharma, P., & Nayak, J. K. (2020). Examining experience quality as the determinant of tourist behavior in niche tourism: An analytical...
  • Sharma, P., Roy, R., & Rabbanee, F. K. (2020). Interactive effects of situational and enduring involvement with perceived crowding and...
  • Sheng, G., Xie, F., Gong, S., & Pan, H. (2019). The role of cultural values in green purchasing intention: Empirical evidence from Chinese...
  • Spann, M., Stich, L., & Schmidt, K. M. (2017). Pay what you want as a pricing model for open access publishing? Communications of the...
  • Soule, C. A. A., & Madrigal, R. (2015). Anchors and norms in anonymous Pay-What-You- Want pricing contexts. Journal of Behavioral and...
  • Stangl, B., Kastner, M., & Prayag, G. (2017). Pay-What-You-Want for high-value priced services: Differences between potential, new, and...
  • Steinbrenner, F., & Turˇ cínkov´a, J. (2021). The value-based pricing determination matrix for pricing method selection. Central European...
  • Suppatvech, C., Godsell, J., & Day, S. (2019). The roles of Internet of Things technology in enabling servitized business models: A systematic...
  • Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533....
  • Tripathi, A., & Pandey, N. (2019). Voluntary pricing mechanisms for green product purchase: Altruistic versus self-enhancing consideration....
  • Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psychological Review, 117(2), 440–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018963...
  • Wagner, R. L. (2019). Lowering consumers’ price image without lowering their internal reference price: The role of Pay-What-You-Want pricing...
  • Wagner, R. L., Pacheco, N. A., Basso, K., Rech, E., & Pinto, D. C. (2022). Consumer reactions to Pay-What-You-Want and name-your-own-price...
  • Weisstein, F. L., Choib, P., & Andersen, P. (2019). The role of external reference price in Pay-What-You-Want pricing: An empirical investigation...
  • Weisstein, F. L., Kukar-Kinney, M., & Monroe, K. B. (2016). Determinants of consumers’ response to Pay-What-You-Want pricing strategy...
  • Vizuete-Luciano, E., Guzel, O., & Merig´o, J. M. (2023). Bibliometric research of the Pay- What-You-Want Topic. Journal of Revenue and...
  • Yen, P. Y., Li, Y., & Liu, H. (2024). Enhancing the profitability of pay what you want: A study of suggested prices. Psychology &...
  • Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences....
  • Zupic, I., & ˇ Cater, T. (2015). Bibliometric methods in management and organization. Organizational Research Methods, 18(3), 429–472....