Hintaeriyttäminen

Hintaeriyttäminen, also known as price discrimination, is a pricing strategy where a seller charges different prices for the same or similar product or service to different buyers. This practice is legal in many jurisdictions, although some regulations exist to prevent anti-competitive behavior. The fundamental requirement for successful hintaeriyttäminen is that the seller must have some degree of market power, meaning they can influence the price rather than being a pure price taker. Additionally, the seller must be able to segment their customers into groups with different price elasticities of demand – meaning some groups are more sensitive to price changes than others. Finally, it must be difficult or impossible for the seller to resell the product or service to the lower-priced group at the higher price, thus preventing arbitrage.

There are several common forms of hintaeriyttäminen. First-degree price discrimination, also known as perfect price discrimination, involves charging each customer the maximum price they are willing to pay. This is often difficult to implement in practice. Second-degree price discrimination occurs when prices vary based on the quantity consumed, such as bulk discounts. Third-degree price discrimination is the most common form, involving segmenting customers into groups and charging different prices to each group. Examples include student discounts, senior discounts, or different pricing for peak versus off-peak hours. Businesses use hintaeriyttäminen to maximize profits by capturing more consumer surplus, which is the difference between what consumers are willing to pay and what they actually pay.