What is Price Discrimination?
Price discrimination or yield management occurs when a firm charges a different price to different groups of consumers for an identical good or service, for reasons not associated with costs. It is important to stress that charging different prices for similar goods is not pure price discrimination. We must be careful to distinguish between price discrimination and product differentiation – differentiation of the product gives the supplier greater control over price and the potential to charge consumers a premium price because of actual or perceived differences in the quality / performance of a good or service. Conditions necessary for price discrimination to work Essentially there are two main conditions required for discriminatory pricing • Differences in price elasticity of demand between markets: There must be a different price elasticity of demand from each group of consumers. The firm is then able to charge a higher price to the group with a more price inelastic demand and a rela
Price discrimination is the practice of one retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer charging different prices for the same items to different customer. This is a widespread practice that does not necessarily imply negative discrimination. Early forms of price discrimination certainly existed in Jim Crow law states, where a black consumer might very likely pay more for the same quantity and items than a white consumer would. In general, this type of price discrimination is very rare today. Price discrimination, as it is now understood, is separated into degrees. First, second and third degree price discrimination exist and apply to different pricing methods used by companies. Much depends on the understanding of the market in segments, and also the consumer’s ability to pay a higher or lower price, called elasticity of demand. A person who might pay more for an item is thought to have a low elasticity of demand. Another person who will not pay as much has a high elasticity of demand. Firs
