Abhijit Biswas has been accepted for publication in the Harvard Business Review

Abhijit Biswas, Professor of Marketing and Chair of the Marketing Department, has been accepted for publication in the Pricing Strategy section of the Harvard Business Review in June 2024.

His article titled "Research: Smaller, More Precise Discounts Could Increase Your Sales," was co-authored by Dinesh Gauri, Professor of Marketing at Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas; Abhijit Guha, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Darla Moore School of Business, at the University of South Carolina; and Subhash Jha, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis.

Summary

Retailers might think that bigger discounts attract more customers. But new research suggests that's not always true. Sometimes, a smaller discount that looks more precise - say 6.8% as compared to 7% - can make people think the deal won't last long, and they'll buy more. In a series of nine experimental studies involving around 2,000 individuals considering online or retail purchases of a variety of products, the authors found precise discount depths - the difference between the original and sale price - can increase purchase intentions by up to 21%.

Read the full article published in the Harvard Business Review.