Featured Article

PACCAR Pricing Spineometer: 2 of 5 Vertebrae

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 16, 2025

PACCAR, a multinational truck, parts, and financing company, had a negative 2024. Examining PACCAR’s Truck, Parts, and Other business specifically, revenue fell 5% to $31 billion and earnings before interest and taxes fell 17% to $4.5 billion over the last year. (This article excludes PACCAR’s financial services business and makes no comments regarding how pricing should be managed in that line of business.) A review of PACCAR’s 28 January 2025 earnings call…

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Broadway for 2 at $700? Dynamic Pricing Keeps Expanding

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 7, 2011

$700 is the price a couple would pay for the best seats to see Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway this month.  With a runaway hit, producers have raised prices several times.  Orchestra seats that were priced at $155 are now priced at $175.  Premium seats that were priced at $250 are now priced in the range of $275 to $350, depending upon demand for specific performances.  Their decision to use dynamic pricing has placed Hugh Jackman’s essentially one-man-show in the top earner position on Broadway with roughly $1.5 million in ticket sales for the week ending November 20th, 2011.

With pricing success like this, one can suspect that more executives may benefit from considering the value of dynamic pricing.

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Top 6 – December 2011

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 7, 2011

To Marek Matějka, herec, dobrý muž, i camarad, I will miss our zábavný večer. 2 October 1974 – 25 November 2011 Not…

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The Merits of Underdog Positioning

By James T. Berger December 7, 2011

For some reason, consumers often find the underdog more attractive than the category leader, according to research done by Harvard Business School Professor Anat Keinan. In this article, we examine some of the drivers that makes underdog marketing successful.

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Effective Price Segmentation Techniques

By Curry W. Hilton December 7, 2011

In order to fully capture potential profit contributions, a firm must be able to successfully execute price segmentation tactics on a consistent basis. Faced by a dynamic market, firms require regular price maintenance to ensure segmentation hedges remain effective. Efficient price discrimination techniques that involve limited cost to identify market segments and mitigate the existence of a secondary market, truly contribute to a firm’s bottom line. Understanding the theoretical concepts of price discrimination discussed in a standard economics textbook only scratches the surface of the knowledge needed to implement a profit generating pricing strategy. This article will attempt to provide the connection between pricing theory and where the rubber meets the road.

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