In: Operations Management
Image pricing which is also called premium pricing or prestige pricing is one of the practices that is opt by the organisations to keep their prices of their products or services higher than any other competitior's product in order to promote the favourable perceptions buyers have among themselves which is based solely on the prices they pay. It is the segment which carries a mid to high tange degree of prices which is absolutely used to intent the fact and exploit the tendency for the buyers who are paying such high prices to assume that the deception that expensive items have the exceptional reputation and represents an exclusive quality and distinction. Thus, the services of superiority, class, quality, brand name and social status is being provided when buying such products with these higher pricing strategies for marketing.
To understand deeply more about this concept, the easiest example we can take is of Apple. Consider the strategies Apple use to market and attract the customers for its products. Apple always use this premim pricing strategy which involves setting the price higher than the similar products like Samsung or Oneplus. Also called Price Skimming, Apple tries to achieve the maximum profit where customers are actually happy paying the higher prices because of the reasons mentioned below:
1. Social Status: One reason when a person buys an Apple is because of the social status. More or leas Apple has the same features like an android phone. But the strategy implemented by Apple years back gave people a perception that Apple is still better than android because higher prices means the exclusivity which is coming and a social status which apple endorses with itself speaking only the higher income people would only buy this product.
2. Quality: With high prices, comes high quality. It is understandable that no phone can beat the quality of touch and camera which is provided by Apple. Apart from that, the privacy and the protection settings provided by Apple is the world's most secured and thus people prefer to pay more prices because of this reason.
3. Differentiation: At last, the unique and differential strategy. The IOS makes Apple unique. The ringtone of that IOS and the design of the phone gives the consumer a differential and unique factor which makes him/her feel superior and different from other customers who buy android phones. These are the services which is provided by the Apple which makes the customer tend to buy it even when the prices are higher.