Evaluating multidimensional prices

The price at which a product is offered often does not consist of a single item of information, for example VW Golf, price; DM25,476. Instead, a multidimensional pricing system is used, e.g. the price comprises a down payment, monthly installments and a repayment period in months. Despite the considerable significance of offers of this type for marketing policy, no information is presently available to describe how a consumer integrates the individual price dimensions (e.g. down payment, monthly installments and number of repayment periods) to form a global judgment. This article derives hypotheses to explain the formation of a price judgment about multidimensional prices. Then, an empirical study designed to verify the formulated hypotheses is described. Finally, this article discusses the implications of the results of the study.