How Should they Affect Pricing Decisions? Difficult Comparison Effect

Abstract

In most companies, there is ongoing conflict between managers in charge of covering costs (finance and accounting) and managers in charge of satisfying customers (marketing and sales). Accounting journals warn against prices that fail to cover full costs, while marketing journals argue that customer willingness-to-pay must be the sole driver of prices. The conflict between these views wastes company resources and leads to pricing decisions that are imperfect compromises. Profitable pricing involves an integration of costs and customer value. To achieve that integration, however, both need to let go of misleading ideas and form a common vision of what drives profitability.