ABSTRACT Price discounts are not always positively correlated with consumers’ purchases. When purchasing nonessential products, a low discount may reduce consumers’ purchase intentions, resulting in the boomerang effect. Thus, the correlation between the discount rate and purchase volume is displayed as a U-shaped curve. The extant research mainly discusses the internal causes of the boomerang effect in offline purchases but rarely considers the mechanism in online purchases. Using the consumption data of users of the Bestpay platform as our research sample, we explore the conditions generating the online low-discount boomerang effect. Our empirical findings reveal that the low-discount boomerang effect still exists only for nonessential products, but the discount range of the effect is expanded compared with that in the offline channel. Additionally, the effect weakens as the product price increases. The statistical characteristics are not significant after reaching a certain price value. On the basis of these findings, we focus on how to avoid or reasonably use the low-discount boomerang effect in online marketing. Some controllable factors, such as the merchant scale, consumers’ online learning and online product heterogeneity, were shown to affect the interval length of the low-discount boomerang effect. Then we provide solutions to avoid this promotion trap. This study contributes to research concerning low-discount promotions and provides guidance for the development of online marketing strategies.

中文翻译：

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适得其反：基于在线购买的低折扣回旋镖效应

摘要 价格折扣并不总是与消费者的购买呈正相关。在购买非必需品时，较低的折扣可能会降低消费者的购买意愿，从而产生回旋镖效应。因此，折扣率与购买量之间的相关性显示为 U 形曲线。现有研究主要讨论线下购买回旋镖效应的内在原因，而很少考虑在线购买中的机制。以Bestpay平台用户的消费数据为研究样本，我们探索了产生在线低折扣回旋镖效应的条件。我们的实证结果表明，低折扣回旋镖效应仍然只存在于非必需品，但与线下渠道相比，该效应的折扣范围有所扩大。此外，效果会随着产品价格的上涨而减弱。达到一定的价格值后，统计特征不显着。在这些发现的基础上，我们关注如何在网络营销中避免或合理利用低折扣回旋镖效应。一些可控因素，如商家规模、消费者在线学习和在线产品异质性，被证明会影响低折扣回旋镖效应的区间长度。然后我们提供解决方案来避免这种促销陷阱。本研究有助于低折扣促销的研究，并为制定在线营销策略提供指导。我们专注于如何避免或合理利用网络营销中的低折扣回旋镖效应。一些可控因素，如商家规模、消费者在线学习和在线产品异质性，被证明会影响低折扣回旋镖效应的区间长度。然后我们提供解决方案来避免这种促销陷阱。本研究有助于低折扣促销的研究，并为制定在线营销策略提供指导。我们专注于如何避免或合理利用网络营销中的低折扣回旋镖效应。一些可控因素，如商家规模、消费者在线学习和在线产品异质性，被证明会影响低折扣回旋镖效应的区间长度。然后我们提供解决方案来避免这种促销陷阱。本研究有助于低折扣促销的研究，并为制定在线营销策略提供指导。