ABSTRACT
When considering pricing strategies and policies, there are complex decisions that the company has to make. Price is a key driver of consumer purchase behavior, and in international markets a company has to face the hard task of setting a price which has to be coherent with brand equity and meanwhile consistent across different countries. But there are countless factors that need to be taken into consideration. Many of them depend not only on internal company variables such as corporate strategy or product cost, but also on external factors such as the characteristics of the target market, global and local competitors, and a country’s economic and legislative structure. A manufacturer’s pricing policy is also influenced by the relative pricing power of intermediaries in the channel of distribution,
and has to satisfy the requests of big international retailers expecting to pay a similar price for the same product across countries. For these reasons, pricing should be approached by companies in a structured way. A research study3 based on a sample of managers-from CEOs and CFOs to heads of business units and professionals in marketing, pricing, and finance functions-pointed out that regardless of their industry, companies with top managers with higher skills in pricing, had more success in achieving a better price for their product than their competitors. With the aim to achieve pricing power, it becomes clear that deep research into customer needs, willingness to pay, and perception of value, is becoming more and more a powerful weapon for companies to overcome price pressure by retailers and become more profitable.
