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Booking early leads to a greater intention to recommend, while same-day bookings tend to be associated with more negative word-of-mouth.
Perceived price fairness serves as a key mechanism, as customers who book well in advance perceive prices as fairer, which in turn increases their willingness to recommend the business to others.
Awareness of the dynamic pricing system intensifies negative reactions among last-minute bookers, as they perceive their price disadvantage compared to early bookers more clearly.
Price transparency turns out to be a "double-edged sword," as while it can foster trust, it also causes frustration when customers realize they are paying more than others for the same service.
Summary of the Study
Advancing digitalization and the availability of real-time data are increasingly enabling leisure companies to implement dynamic pricing strategies. This study examines consumers’ perceptions of dynamic pricing at different booking times in the context of ski resorts. Based on survey data from customers at four Austrian ski resorts (n=1,324), the study examines how the booking time interacts with the intention to spread word-of-mouth.
The results show that early bookings increase perceived fairness and promote positive word-of-mouth, while late bookings lead to negative perceptions. The study makes a theoretical contribution to the current state of scientific knowledge by addressing a context that has received little attention to date, in which consumer reactions to dynamic pricing in the leisure sector have been largely overlooked. It also highlights practical implications to support operators of leisure and winter sports facilities in implementing efficient and customer-oriented dynamic pricing systems.
Key Findings of the Study
- The Relationship Between Booking Timing and Recommendations: Booking tickets earlier leads to a significantly higher willingness among guests to recommend the ski resort positively.
- Fairness as a psychological bridge: Perceived price fairness acts as a key mediator that explains why early booking improves word-of-mouth.
- Negative reaction among last-minute bookers: Guests who purchase their tickets on the same day—and are thus consciously aware of the dynamic pricing system—show a significantly lower intention to recommend the resort.
- Advantage of booking a week in advance: Bookings made more than a week in advance achieve the highest scores for perceived fairness compared to last-minute purchases.
- Influence of sociodemographic factors: Vacationers and people with higher household incomes tend to give better recommendations than regional day-trippers or people with lower incomes.
- Risk of price transparency: Opennessabout pricing can be frustrating if it causes customers to fully realize for the first time that they are at a price disadvantage compared to early bookers.