Expected Time Length to Next Deal : Does This Concept Help to Explain Consumers' Price Perceptions?

Much research has used difference between a store price and consumers internal reference price ("perceived price gain") as a major component of their price perceptions. We argue that consumers also use expected time length to next deal (ETND) to form price perceptions. The ETND is defined as the length of time consumers expect to wait before observing a deal similar to or better than the current deal. In addition, we postulate that ETND partially influences brand choice decisions. Two studies were conducted by manipulating three dimensions of dealing patterns : discount depth, discount-depth variation, and frequency. Results showed that both perceived price gain and ETND influenced price perceptions to a similar degree. The ETND had no direct relationship to brand choice decisions and seemed to affect decisions indirectly through price perceptions