The Influence Of Consumers' Sense Of Power On Price Fairness

The sense of power refers to an individual's subjective perception that he or her own ability of controlling another person to obtain a desired resource or subjectively perceive an ability that unaffected by others and be able to successfully complete an action and get desired things,it has an extensive impact on individuals' cognitive processing?self-construction?consumer decision-making and other aspects,besides,sense of power is also an important factor affecting the fair perception of purchase prices.In online shopping environment,the dynamic pricing strategy(Based on different consumption periods/groups,merchants set different prices for the same product)of firms and diversified communication methods of price information increase the possibility of price fairness which consumers could feel and the impact of sense of power on individuals' fair perception of prices can not be ignored.Studies on the relation between sense of power and price fairness were mostly based on Agentic-Communal Model or Situated Focus Theory which emphases personality-based sense of power could induct a single and stable guidance/motivation of individuals,however,as a psychological variable with extensive influence,the sense of power tends to lead individuals to generate multiple motives,and the level of individual's sense of power and induced behaviors are not always stable,which lead that the unclear comprehension of the relationship between sense of power and price fairness,the contradiction between the results of researches,the less degree of fitting between theories and practical situations in previous studies.The latest theory of the sense of power,Regulatory Focus Theory,believes that there are two motivational systems(Behavior Approach System and Behavior Inhibition System)that exist within individuals simultaneously,and when a individual's regulatory focus matches the compatible power perception,it will produce “Regulatory Fit Effect”,along with the promotion of value/effect,the sense of power will further increase individual's emotion,motivational level and behavioral frequency,and affect individual's perception of pricefairness as well.In addition,not only can the sense of power play a role as a stable trait,but also can be induced by contextual clues,and this guided one also has an important impact on the individual's sense of price fairness.In view of the deficiencies of previous studies,this paper which bases on online shopping scenarios puts forward three hypotheses(H1:Consumers' sense of power has a positive impact on price fairness perception.H2: Regulatory focus has a Adjusting effect on the relation between consumers' sense of power and price fairness perception.H3: Fluency of information processing mediate the regulatory fit effect between the sense of power and regulatory focus and price fairness perception.)from the perspectives of the influence of sense of power on individual's psychological state and value judgment and the regulatory fit effect between power perception and regulatory focus.We also constructed an intermediary regulatory effect model and applied two pre-studies and three formal studies to testify this model.The pre-studies verified the regulatory fit effect produced by the match between sense of power and regulatory focus,and the effect of processing fluency on the sense of price fairness,which laid foundation for formal studies.Study 1 applied questionnaires to examine the effect of long-term power perception on the sense of price fairness,and found that consumers' sense of long-term power positively affect price fairness perception and regulatory focus regulate the relation between them,and partially working through processing fluency,which initially verified assumptions.In order to activate the sense of power,study 2 combined embodied cognition and scenario imagining to induce the sense of social power,applied a maze task to induce regulatory focus and found that the impact of sense of social power on price fairness perception was not significant,while the interaction between sense of social power and regulatory focus on price fairness perception is significant,and it played a entirely role through processing fluency,that is because although individuals with sense of social power have stable self-concept and self-confidence,less sensitive and affected by social comparison,they also bear the responsibility of benefiting others and serving the society,need to pay attention to social clues such as others' emotions and needs,more vulnerable to social comparisons which makes them focus on the losses caused by price comparisons,so they has more possibility to experience a lower sense of price fairness.In order to exclude the influence of social interference on the sense of power,study 3 guided participants to recall a experience when they unaffected by others or environment to induce they sense of personal power which(This method eliminated participants' social bias and social stereotype when induce the sense of social power),it was founded that participants who own a high sense of personal power perceived a higher sense of price fairness,individuals with low sense of personal power perceived a lower sense of price fairness,and testified the intermediary regulatory effect model.Besides,there is no significant difference on participants' overall emotional state when they hold different level of sense of power.Based on price unfairness in dynamic pricing on the Internet,this research explored the impact of sense of long-term power on consumers' sense of price fairness,and based on two definitions of price justice,investigated how the sense of social power/personal power(immediate sense of power)and regulatory focus interactively affected consumers' sense of price fairness.The results showed that the regulatory fit effect produced by the match between regulatory focus and sense of power,especially especially processing fluency of information,mediated the influence of the sense of power and regulatory focus on price fairness perception,that is,the intermediary regulatory effect model established.This study broadened researches on the formation and influence mechanism of sense of price fairness and also the impact of the sense of power on individuals' consumption decision,which help us to explore consumption characteristics of local consumers,improve the pricing strategies of companies,strengthen and regulate consumers' sense of price fairness.Besides,it is obviously that this study provided the basis of organizational behavior for firms to effectively manage consumers' emotional reactions and behaviors to price unfairness and formulate corresponding management strategies.