Zero price effect on hotel demand: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment
通过在中国欠发达地区的选择实验，研究发现免费住宿促销存在非理性的零价格效应，且其效果与等值折扣无显著差异，为酒店吸引顾客提供了参考。
A Choice Experiment is employed to analyze the effect of a free night promotion on hotel demand in the setting of a relatively underdeveloped area in China. Results from Error Components models show evidence in favor of a non-rational “zero price effect” (ZPE): with total price and all other aspects equal, people tend to choose the hotel which offers one free night. In addition, free pricing is shown to have stronger effects in diverting preferences than a trivial price (1 RMB). However, it is not the only successful psychological pricing strategy; its effects do not significantly differ from those of a materially equivalent discount. Building upon recent methodological innovations using Choice Experiments to study pricing strategy, this paper is the first to extend the technique to study the ceteris paribus ZPE. Our findings can help hotels make use of the ZPE to attract consumers.