Sammanfattning Titel: ”Lurad” av ett erbjudande – en empirisk studie om prissättning och kundens beteendemönster Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi: Marknadsföring Författare: Adam Naenfeldt & Mattias Söderström Handledare: Jonas Kågström Datum: Juni 2013 Syfte: Syftet med examensarbetet var att analysera konsumenters beteende. Hjälpverktyget vid genomförandet var att använda oss av teorin, Option Framing. Delsyftet var att undersöka nuvarande prissättningsmodell inom revisions- och redovisningsbranschen. Metod: Studien innehåller två delar, en kvantitativ del och en kvalitativ del. I den kvantitativa delen var utgångspunkten tidigare forskning och med hjälp av den tidigare forskningen utformades två enkäter. Den delades ut till småföretagare i Gävleområdet. Resultatet analyserades i programmet Minitab16 och sammanställdes bland annat med en bivariat analys. Den kvalitativa delen bestod av intervjuer och sammanställdes bland annat med hjälp av NVivo10. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet som erhölls i den kvantitativa delen av studien var likartad med tidigare forskning inom området. Utifrån Option Framing och Bivariat analysen påvisades olika samband som firmorna kan dra nytta av i arbetet att paketera tjänster. I den kvalitativa delen framkom att revisions- och redovisningsfirmorna börjat frångå den gamla konservativa timprissättningen. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studien behandlar Option Framing på komplexa tjänster (redovisningstjänster) och vidare forskning kan göras på extremt komplexa samt icke komplexa tjänster. Uppsatsens bidrag: Utifrån teori och empiri rekommenderar studien att se till de samband vi funnit vid paketering av tjänster. Marknadsförare inom branschen kan därmed dra nytta av resultaten i studien. Nyckelord: Prissättning, Option Framing, beteendeekonomi, revision, redovisning

People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.

People are not always rational, rely on heuristics and are influenced by situational factors being conducive to biased decisions. Hence, the decision outcome cannot be explained by consumers’ preferences exclusively. This offers opportunities to service managers to steer the decision outcome into a desirable direction by a beneficial design of situational factors. In contrast to the discussed opportunities, situational factors can also become a pitfall for researchers and managers. I show that situational factors may compromise the validity of research results based on self reports in a service context, because the reported scores of research participants may be biased. Three perspectives related to service management are distinguished in this thesis: First, the customer independently of the service provider; second, the interaction of customer and service provider; third, the service provider independently of the customer. From the perspective of the customer, I investigate the impact of different defaults in a customization process on the decision outcome of different types of customers. From the perspective of the customer and service provider interaction, I point out a new solution to overcome a dilemma related to service productivity. Finally, from the perspective of the service provider, the possible contamination of service related constructs by socially desirable responding is examined.

Death, Mortality and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays Dwayne Scott McGraw ABSTRACT This dissertation presents two essays that address specific aspects of the broad domain of death, mortality and consumer decision making. Essay 1 examines how priming mortality salience (MS) and financial vulnerability (FV) influences insurance policy choices of young, middle aged and senior consumers. Essay 2 investigates how, in funeral planning contexts when consumer may be dealing with significant grief, manipulating choice architecture (via additive vs. subtractive framing of funeral package options) influences the composition and cost of the chosen funeral package. In Essay 1, we use a three-factor design: 2 (MS prime: present/absent) x 2 (FV prime: present/absent) x 3 (Age: Young/Middle-Aged/Senior) to examine how participants evaluate and choose among three hypothetical policies (premium/benefits: low, medium, and high). In a control group (neither prime present), the younger and middle age groups modally select the medium policy whereas the seniors select the high policy. However, the primes affect these choices. When MS alone is primed (FV prime absent), young adults move toward the low policy (assures death benefits at affordable cost). The middle-aged group moves toward the high policy. The seniors remain over-insured with the high policy. When FV is primed, the senior group seems to recognize that their strong financial situation and low obligation levels warrant the medium policy. Interestingly, sensitive to higher financial obligations, the middle-aged tend to buy the high policy. With both MS and FV primed, seniors continue to show affinity toward the medium policy (salience of lower FV tempers the MS effect). Sensitized to their financial situation, younger adults continue to favor the low policy. The middle-aged group remains with the higher policy: both primes have impact. These evaluation data are generally consistent with the choice data. The findings have significant implications for designing life insurance products attuned to the needs of consumers in various age groups. They provide insight into the factors that, if made salient at choice, may facilitate better consumer choices. The results also have important regulatory implications. In Essay 2, we examine if consumers are influenced by how funeral package options are presented at the time of choice. Specifically, we study these effects of choice architecture using manipulations of choice architecture (additive versus subtractive framing of package options). In study1, we examine how grief and related emotions surrounding death influence the effects of additive versus subtractive framing of items. In Study 2, we examine how these effects are moderated by when the funeral is pre-planned or planned at the time of death. These studies shed light on how options framing influence the choice of funeral packages and also the costs and benefits of preplanning funeral events and providing advanced directives for end-of-life care and death related expenses. / Doctor of Philosophy / Death, Mortality and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays Dwayne Scott McGraw GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT This dissertation (titled Death, Mortality, and Consumer Decision Making: Two Essays) address specific aspects of the broad domain of death, mortality and consumer decision making. Essay 1 examines how priming mortality salience (MS) and financial vulnerability (FV) influences insurance policy choices of young, middle aged and senior consumers. Essay 2 investigates how, in funeral planning contexts when consumer may be dealing with significant grief, manipulating choice architecture (additive vs. subtractive framing of funeral package options) influences the composition and cost of the funeral package that is ultimately chosen. In Essay 1, we investigate how priming mortality salience (MS), and financial vulnerability (FV) influences the insurance policy choices of young, middle-aged, and senior consumers. These findings show that such priming affects makes the likelihood of death and associated financial needs salient, and differentially influences choice of policies with specific benefit/premium profiles in different age groups. The results provide significant insights for designing life insurance products tailored to the needs of consumers at different life stages and the factors that highlight may influence consumer choices of such products. The results also have regulatory implications. In Essay 2, we examine how coping with grief surrounding death and bereavement may influence consumers' choices of funeral packages. Specifically, we examine the effects of choice architecture (additive versus subtractive framing) on the funeral package that is finally chosen in such situations. In Study 1, we find that both option framing as well as grief and related emotions surrounding the death of a loved one affect the composition and cost of the funeral package that consumers choose. In Study 2, we assess how these effects are influenced by whether the funeral is pre-planned or arranged at the time of death. These studies shed light on how options framing influence the choice of funeral packages and also the costs and benefits of preplanning funeral events and providing advanced directives for end-of-life care and death related expense.