Perceived Price Fairness Scale

What it measures

Measures consumer perceptions of price fairness and attributions about the seller's underlying motive for setting a given price. Price fairness evaluations are not driven purely by objective price comparisons — the inferred motive behind a price matters enormously. When consumers attribute a price to profit-seeking exploitation (e.g., price gouging during disasters, surge pricing), perceived unfairness is much higher than when the same price is attributed to cost increases or supply constraints. Campbell's two-component model — fairness evaluation plus motive attribution — advances the dual entitlement theory (Kahneman et al., 1986) by capturing the psychological process connecting motive inference to fairness judgment. Particularly relevant for dynamic pricing, personalised pricing, platform surge pricing, and post-disaster price gouging research.

Representative items

• The price charged for this product is fair. (Fairness)
• This seller is charging a fair price given the circumstances. (Fairness)
• The price charged is acceptable. (Fairness)
• This seller raised the price to take advantage of consumers. (Motive – exploitative)
• This seller is motivated by greed in setting this price. (Motive – exploitative)

Citation

Campbell, M.C. (1999). Perceptions of price unfairness: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 8(2), 187–205.