Expression of Irrationality in Consumer Behaviour: Aspect of Price Perception

Consumer decision-making and its determining factors have been analysed by a number of marketing researchers; however, the majority of studies concentrate on the rational approach. Although sporadic, recent theoretical and empirical studies reveal that researchers of consumer behaviour should also place considerable attention on the analysis of issues related to consumer irrationality. In order to disclose the expression of consumer irrationality in decision-making related to purchasing and consumption, scenarios associated with price perception were chosen for analysis in this paper allowing determination of a possible economically rational decision and a comparison with decisions made by consumers thereof. Theoretically sound assumptions in relation to consumer irrationality expression in the context of price perception and relations with consumer behaviour were tested on fast-moving consumption goods (FMCG). In the study of experimental scenarios, the authors of the paper analysed 8 assumptions related to irrationality expression in the context of price perception. In the case of FMCG, 6 assumptions were confirmed as significant from the perspective of irrational price perception, of which 5 were at the company level and 1 at the consumer level. In order to reveal possible relations between irrational price perception and consumer behaviour, a survey of experiment participants was performed. The results demonstrated a significant relation between these variables in terms of all the assumptions confirmed during the experiment