Dollar-Off or Percent-Off? Discount Framing, Construal Levels, and Advertising Appeals

Abstract

In two studies, the authors reveal how consumers react to marketing messages when two commonly used promotional tactics – price discounts and advertising messages – are synergized. Building on construal level theory, Study 1 shows how dollar-off discount framings (“Buy 2, get $10 off”) trigger low-level construal, while percent-off discount framings (“Buy 2, Get 50% off”) activate high-level construal. Study 2 demonstrates that congruent levels are matched when dollar-off discount appeals are paired with attribute appeals and when percent-off appeals are paired with benefit appeals, leading to more effective marketing communications.

Keywords:

• Discount
• advertising
• price promotion
• construal level
• psychological distance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.