Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 

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2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
340
Figure 1 
 Price Sensitivity Measurement Questionnaire 
Q 1. Within the past six months, how many times have you been to any buffet restaurant, including this one? 
Q 2.Within the past six months, how many times have you been to this buffet restaurant? 
Q 3. At what price would you consider this dinner buffet to be so inexpensive that you would have some doubts 
about its quality? 
Q 4. At what price would you still feel this dinner buffet is a good deal, and you have no doubts about its quality? 
Q 5. At what price would you think that this dinner buffet is kind of expensive, but still worth buying because of its 
good quality (e.g., ingredients, freshness, etc.)? 
Q 6. At what price would you feel this dinner buffet is so expensive that it is not worth purchasing in this restaurant 
regardless of its good quality? 
Q 7. In your opinion, what is the most appropriate price for this kind of dinner buffet__________? 
 
Q 8. Place of Residence: 
a) Local Residence
b) Mainlander 
c) Macao Resident
d) Oversees Visitor
Q 9. Gender: 
a) Male
b) Female
Q 10. Age: 
a) 20 or below
b) 21-30
c) 31-40
d) 41-50
e) 51-60
f) 61 or above
Q 11. Education Level: 
a) Primary or below 
b) Secondary
c) Tertiary
d) Graduate or above
We received 350 surveys, of which 247 were usable (71% response rate). The Statistical Package for the 
Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to determine normal frequency distribution and nonsensical responses. SPSS also 
provided the cumulative distributions

We plotted four graphs from the data, as described by Lewis & Shoemaker, 1997. All prices displayed in 

graphs 1 - 4 are expressed in Hong Kong Dollars and are rounded estimated dollar values. The graph in figure 2 
plots the cumulative distributions of responses for “cheap” (question 4) and “expensive” (question 5). The 
intersection of the two graphs, HK $130, represents the indifference price (IDP), which is the pricing point at which 
an equal amount of customers feel that the price is cheap as it is expensive (Lewis & Shoemaker, 1997).
Furthermore, an indifference price percentage (IDP percent) was established, which is the subsequent 
cumulative distribution percentage at the indifference price. A low IDP percent indicates a high level of price 
consciousness, while a high IDP indicates a lot of variability in the data with regard to price (Lewis and Shoemaker, 
1997). The IDP percentage in this study is approximately 15%, which indicates a fairly “high” level of price 
consciousness by dinner buffet guests. 
The graph in Figure 3 shows the optimal pricing points (OPP), or the point at which the purchase resistance 
is at its lowest, by combining the cumulative distributions of “too cheap” (Question 3), and “too expensive” 
(Question 6). The OPP for this sample was HK $ 139. The OPP was established to the right of the indifference 
point, which may indicate that there is less price consciousness in our market than first assumed, since the optimal 
pricing point is HK $9 $ higher than the indifference point.