The authors expand and integrate prior price-perceived value models within the context of price comparison advertising. More specifically, the conceptual model explicates the effects of advertised selling and reference prices on buyers’ internal reference prices, perceptions of quality, acquisition value, transaction value, and purchase and search intentions. Two experimental studies test the conceptual model. The results across these two studies, both individually and combined, support the hypothesis that buyers’ internal reference prices are influenced by both advertised selling and reference prices as well as the buyers’ perception of the product's quality. The authors also find that the effect of advertised selling price on buyers’ acquisition value was mediated by their perceptions of transaction value. In addition, the effects of perceived transaction value on buyers’ behavioral intentions were mediated by their acquisition value perceptions. The authors suggest directions for further research and implications for managers.

Manufacturers and online retailers are readily availing themselves of new technologies to present their merchandise using a variety of formats, including static (still image) and dynamic (video) portrayal. Building on vividness theory, the authors propose and demonstrate that presenting products and services using a dynamic visual format enhances consumer preference for hedonic options and willingness to pay for those options. The dynamic presentation format increases involvement with the product/service experience in a manner presumably similar to that of the actual product experience. The result is an increased preference for and valuation of hedonic options. This holds true for experiential and search products in single and joint evaluations and carries over to subsequent choices. Across all studies, the results demonstrate that a dynamic (relative to static) presentation format enhances choice of the hedonically superior (vs. utilitarian-superior) option by more than 79%.