Evolving pricing practices: the role of new business models

Purpose – In this brief paper, the aim is to highlight three important pricing areas: the business strategies and pricing models that have evolved over the past 20 years of research, the customers that have been targeted, and the role of the internet on pricing. The advent of social media, mobile marketing and display technologies are likely to encourage researchers to pursue additional research on these topics. Design/methodology/approach – The current paper is an essay aimed at stimulating pricing research in three major domains. Findings – The authors review illustrative current practices and research findings pertaining to emerging pricing business models, customer target marketing and price dispersion on the web. Research limitations/implications – The paper highlights areas that need empirical investigation. Practical implications – Managers need to explicitly understand the role of these emerging technologies (e.g. social media, mobile media, and web‐application) and appropriately incorporate them into their pricing strategies. Originality/value – The paper's central contribution is to stimulate additional research on key pricing areas.