PRICING ANALYSIS AND MODELS

This course is elective and suggested to students in the third year of the degree in Business Administration, it is held in the second period. It provides the basic tools for the analysis of pricing models and to provide support in managerial decisions relating to price choices.
Along with the educational objectives of the degree course, in addition to theoretical aspects the course deals with methods and models in the perspective of the solution of real business problems.

The teaching activities proposed in the lectures, together with the individual study, allow the student to acquire the ability to appropriately employ models for the development and control at the managerial level of pricing policies, considering both the rational and the psychological component of price.

Expected results:

A) Knowledge and understanding
a.1) understand the main pricing strategies and tactics
a.2) know the main quantitative models for pricing policies
a.3) understand the psychological component in the consumer's reactions to price

B) Application of knowledge and understanding:
b.1) be able to calculate the optimal sale price based on the main rational models of price choice
b.2) adapt the pricing strategy to the economic context

C) Judgment skills:
c.1) to recognize the price choices implemented by various retailers and to assess their adequacy

The skills provided by the first year Mathematics course are given for acquired, in particular with regard to derivation and optimization techniques.

1. Cost oriented pricing
2. Lerner's formula and price choices in the distribution channel
3. Price and advertising: the Dorfman Steiner formula
4. Price discrimination and willingness to pay
5. Price and auctions
6. Indirect price discrimination techniques
7. Psychological pricing vs. fair price
8. Price strategies for market entry
9. Dynamic pricing and revenue management
10. Fair trade price

Principles of Pricing - An Analytical Approach
Rakesh Vohra, Lakshman Krishnamurthi, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2012
(ISBN:9781107010659)

Other teaching material will be made available on the Moodle platform of the course.

The evaluation takes place through:
a) a written exam (mandatory) consisting of 3 open-ended exercises, variations of exercises already solved in class and, subsequently, three other open-ended questions of a theoretical nature (total time beyond 60 minutes);
b) an oral exam (optional) consisting of 2 or 3 questions starting from the discussion of the written exam.
The maximum grade that can be recorded following the written exam is 26/30. If the written exam is valued as satisfactory (grade greater than or equal to 18/30) the student can ask to record the grade obtained in the written exam if it is not higher than 26/30 or the mark 26/30 if the written exam score is greater than 26/30, he has also the possibility to take an oral exam (in this case the final grade is obtained as the average between the written test score and the oral test score).

Groups of students (3-4 students per group) may also deepen the study of a topic of the course through the examination of a business case; the study must be presented to the colleagues of the course on a date to be agreed, and in any case before the written test.
This activity can allow up to 2 points out of 30 to be added to the final evaluation.

In cases where the written exam does not allow a sufficiently accurate assessment of:
- the command of technical language, which is essential for appropriate communication within the disciplinary field,
- the understanding of fundamental concepts, which may appear partial or ambiguous if inferred solely from written answers,
- the actual level of autonomy and awareness in arguing, justifying, and connecting the acquired knowledge,
the student will be required to take an oral exam as an integrative and complementary tool, aimed at:
- clarifying any ambiguities that emerged in the written exam,
- directly verifying conceptual understanding, the use of specialized language, and critical reasoning skills,
- ensuring a fair and comprehensive evaluation, especially in cases where the written exam does not provide sufficient elements to reliably determine the level of acquired competences.

written and oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

To achieve a passing grade in each exercise (3 points out of 5), the student must demonstrate knowledge of the topic of the question, performing any calculations without serious errors.
To achieve an intermediate grade higher than passing (4 out of 5), the student must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the topic of the question without serious errors.
To achieve the maximum grade (5 out of 5), the student must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the topic of the question without calculation errors.

The course consists of 30 hours of lectures, the student in his individual work is required to understand and assimilate the basic concepts of the theory, comparing the course notes with the recommended texts; the theoretical contents are always accompanied by examples, exercises drawn from concrete examples of pricing and some simulations (business games) in the classroom.

Depending on the health situation, updates concerning the activities and their scheduling will be made available on the Moodle platform (moodle.unive.it) and on the personal pages of the instructors.

Further information and materials related to the course, both regarding organizational aspects and didactic aspects, will be made available starting from the beginning of the course on the University e-learning platform (www.moodle.unive.it). Students are required to register for the course on the Moodle platform.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development