The “Pricebo Effect”: How Prices Could Influence Cannabis Quality Perception and its Implications on Price Policies

Authors

  • Marco Alberto Carrasco Villanueva Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Lima, Perú. Universidad de París 1: Panteón - Sorbona, París, Francia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15381/pc.v22i2.14336

Keywords:

Behavioral Economics, Consumption, Price policy, Drugs, Product Quality

Abstract

The term “pricebo effect” is coined in the present study to refer to the way that prices could shape consumers’ quality perception of a good. This effect may start from prices modifying expectations, to shaping the perceived quality of the product, and finally affecting the consumer’s demands. This study has analyzed the existence of the pricebo effect for the case of cannabis—a product that gives some interesting advantages over goods analyzed in previous studies. Although there was not a significant effect identified for herbal cannabis (commonly known as weed or marijuana) the analyses identified a stable and significant pricebo effect for resin cannabis— commonly known as hash or hashish. Results are discussed considering the differences in sample size for each type, as well as the existing literature about placebos and the role of prices on perception. As the results support the plausibility of a pricebo effect in certain contexts, price policy implications are discussed as well— as consumers may be susceptible to being tricked by firms, to a certain degree.
JEL: D03, E21, E64, L65, L15.

Author Biography

  • Marco Alberto Carrasco Villanueva, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Lima, Perú. Universidad de París 1: Panteón - Sorbona, París, Francia.

    Máster de Investigación en Economía y Gestión, mención en Economía y Psicología, por la Universidad
    de París 1: Panteón - Sorbona, París, Francia. Bachiller en Economía por la Universidad Nacional Mayor
    de San Marcos, Lima, Perú. Analista Senior del Ministerio de Desarrollo e Inclusión Social, Lima, Perú.

Downloads

Published

2018-02-21

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Artículos

License

THE AUTHORS RETAIN THEIR RIGHTS:

a. The authors retain their trademark and patent rights, and also on any process or procedure described in the article.

b. The authors retain the right to share, copy, distribute, execute and publicly communicate the article published in Pensamiento Crítico (for example, place it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with recognition of its initial publication in Pensamiento Crítico.

c. The authors retain the right to make a subsequent publication of their work, to use the article or any part of it (for example: a compilation of their works, notes for conferences, thesis, or for a book), provided they indicate the source of publication (authors of the work, journal, volume, number and date).

How to Cite

The “Pricebo Effect”: How Prices Could Influence Cannabis Quality Perception and its Implications on Price Policies. (2018). Pensamiento Crítico, 22(2), 175-210. https://doi.org/10.15381/pc.v22i2.14336