Book Pricing Method Research Based On Customer Perceived Value

The traditional book pricing method of print unit pricing causes the unbalance of price structure and high price problem. The high book prices not only reduce demands of readers, waste publishing resources, cause pirate, but also restrain the development of publishing line. The theoretical circles did not research too much about the book pricing method problem. Some of them do, but basically they just use some traditional marketing pricing methods to set book prices in short of theoretical depth and pertinent solutions.As far as the high book price problem is concerned, this article based on customer value theory considers book products' characteristics and put up with the point that book prices should be set upon customer perceived value. The core of this pricing method is customer perceived value. Conjoint analysis is employed to detect the elements of customer perceived value according to whose different segments of customers are made by using cluster analysis. Conjoint analysis based on segments of customers can find the model of price and customer perceived value. Meanwhile, value map is also used to analyze rivals' competitive price and customer perceived value strategies. Then the cost-profit situation of publishing books is analyzed with the combination of customer perceived value element. Which lead to research all-around on the book pricing. The article tries to discover a new method to pricing books and does a lot of work on: 1) analyzing existing research on books' characteristics and pricing method, 2) analyzing existing research on the concept of customer perceived value, 3) detecting customers' limit price in psychology and reference price, 4) conjoint analysis on customer perceived value, 5) market segments based on different of customer perceived value, 6) analyzing rivals in targeted market based on customer perceived value map, 7) analyzing book profit based on customer perceived value.According to the analysis, setting books' prices should be based on the customer perceived value and should systematically analyze key elements that affect books' prices such as customer perceived value, competitive environment, product's profit, etc. It should represent customer-oriented S-T-P process;get a balance between customers' desire of having value satisfaction and firms' demand of obtaining expected profit;and increase the firm's competitiveness. Publishing firms should differentiate their book product strategies and the relevant pricing strategies in different market segments so as to customize book products and to publish on demand.The pricing method research based on customer perceived value not only expands the application coverage of the marketing methodology of customer value, but also enriches the studies of marketing pricing methods, which makes sense in theory. Since it can represent marketing methodology of customer value and has complete qualitative description and demonstration as well, this method has both application values on pricing books and reference values on pricing other general products (especially on information products).