Walking a tightrope : Women entrepreneurs on the pricing decision as a delicate act of balancing inner and outer forces

Ahl, Helene and Florin Samuelsson, Emilia (1999) Walking a tightrope : Women entrepreneurs on the pricing decision as a delicate act of balancing inner and outer forces. In: Sailing the Entrepreneurial Wave into the 21st Century : proceedings : 13th annual national USASBE conference, January 14-17, 1999. University of San Diego, San Diego.

Abstract

This paper is a pilot study on the rationales for pricing decisions among a group of female entrepreneurs. For the purpose of avoiding pre-determined categories and allowing novel ideas and concerns to emerge, a focus group methodology was employed. Unlike the dominating literature on the subject which sees pricing as a rational decision based on costs, customer value and competition, this study suggests that both contextual factors and psychological factors are important. Important contextual factors were culture, regional characteristics and gender. Important psychological factors were sense of fairness, morals, identity, self-image, need for confirmation and self-confidence.