The application of revenue management (RM) is changing more rapidly than ever before, driven as an important factor of the daily operation to keep prices competitive and to create real-time optimal pricing. In the age of the Internet and social media, negotiated fixed rates have become outmoded. Consumers now have access to online rate comparisons and real time reviews. They think more strategically when making purchasing decisions. Thus, they become more demanding. This research provides an empirical study of revenue management and pricing with an emphasis given to the hospitality industry. The aim of this research is to examine the gap between the theoretical approach and the empirical analysis, the rationality between the implementation of dynamic pricing approaches and the impact on the customer. Furthermore, the research examines the perception of consumers’ willingness to pay when using the Name-Your-Own-Price (NYOP) mechanism, which allows customers to have a greater influence on the amount they are prepared to pay. Instead of posting a price, the seller waits for a potential buyer’s offer, which he or she can either accept or reject. Finally, this study examines, whether the use of social media plays a decisive role in the online purchase environment used by the hospitality sector and the effect it has on a consumer’s willingness to pay. Accordingly, hotel revenue managers will be able to use the findings of this study to effectively plan their short-term, and long-term pricing strategies to generate a stronger revenue management performance for their property, namely to increase the RevPAR (revenue per available room). The research can be useful to businesses, as empirical data and tests were employed to determine what kind of impact the different pricing policies have on the long-term profit optimization. These practical and theoretical elements of the field reinforce each other‚ as well as to a large extent, the constructive interplay of theory and practice. The research is twofold, the holistic approach, which discusses the development of the theoretical dimension, is complemented by the practical analysis of the collected data of the surveys. This approach ensures the relevant observation of ‘real-time’ data and the evaluation of the set of hypotheses. The study conducted two large scale interrelated structured surveys. The first structural survey (NYOP) provides a better understanding of the final consumer, by using the name-your-own-price mechanism and by observing the extended role of social media in the booking procedure. Hypotheses were tested and in the second survey in-depth data from revenue managers and executives working across the tourism industry was collected, in an attempt to measure the use of pricing strategies within the industry. The research contributes to the theory by empirical testing how the extended RM objectives influence RM and pricing. It provides a clear picture of the necessary elements for a successful implementation of pricing strategies. Finally, the study has implications for the consumer. Thus, the researcher investigates consumer’s perception to the NYOP model and the expanding role of social media to the consumer-booking pattern.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the effects participatory pricing strategies have on consumer perceptions and behaviors in a sport event pricing scenario. Participatory pricing strategies are those that include the consumer in setting the final price of a good or service. These mechanisms include name-your-own-price (NYOP) and pay-what-you-want (PWYW). These pricing strategies are now being introduced into the sport industry. With the increased use of these strategies, and the lack of research in sport management pertaining to consumers’ perceptions of price, specifically consumer voice in price setting, there is a gap in the literature that needs to be filled. This study investigates the consumer’s perceptions of price fairness, perceived value, as well as consumer behavior (i.e. purchase intentions and willingness-to-pay), when encountering participatory pricing strategies. The following dissertation presents a quantitative experimental design, asking subjects to participate in a simulated ticket purchase experience. Difference between experimental groups was assessed based on price fairness, perceived value, willingness-to-pay, and purchase intentions. Results indicate there is a significant difference between participatory pricing groups and traditional fixed price groups when examining price fairness, perceived value, willingness-to-pay, and final average prices paid. Specifically, price fairness evaluations were significantly higher for the PWYW and fixed price groups, and lower for the NYOP group. In addition to the price fairness differences, the groups differed on their evaluations of perceived value (PWYW and fixed are the same, both higher than NYOP). Furthermore, the results reveal that consumers involved in the NYOP mechanism evoked higher levels of willingness-to-pay than PWYW and fixed. Furthermore, the study also found that the final average price paid following the experiment differed based on the mechanism. The PWYW and fixed price mechanisms paid similar amounts, while both of them were significantly higher than the NYOP mechanism. This suggests that while one of the biggest concerns for the PWYW treatment is a low final average price (even $0); this may not be an issue in a sport ticket pricing scenario. Study limitations and future research are included in the following dissertation.