The influence of price discount framing on the evaluation of a product bundle

Bundle offers consisting of two or more products often include a price discount. The impact of the price discount on the perceived attractiveness of the bundle has been shown to depend on which product is discounted. It has been argued that discounts are more effective when they are assigned to the product that will receive the most weight in the overall evaluation of the bundle. We propose that the perceived value of the discount may also depend on a referent specific to each product. Six studies are used to provide evidence that ( 1) price discount framing effects can be explained by reference dependence and ( 2) that reference dependence and product importance independently contribute to price discount framing effects.