Consumer Participation and Sense of Choice in Pricing: A Psychosocial Pathway to Enhanced Mental Well-Being and Quality of Life
M. Ekhtera, M. OveysikianIntroduction
Traditional markets position consumers as passive recipients of fixed prices, limiting their sense of control and engagement—key elements for psychological well-being. Behavioral psychiatry suggests that everyday experiences involving agency and self-determination can activate mechanisms similar to therapeutic empowerment.
Participatory pricing models, where individuals set or negotiate prices, introduce autonomy into routine economic contexts. Autonomy and perceived control are fundamental psychological needs linked to well-being and quality of life. This study examines whether allowing consumers to determine product prices enhances mental well-being through increased autonomy
Objectives
The study tested whether self-determined pricing enhances autonomy and well-being, and whether autonomy mediates this link—suggesting that everyday economic choices can activate psychological empowerment.
Methods
An online controlled experiment was conducted with 60 adults (18–45 years). Participants were randomly assigned to either a fixed-price or self-determined pricing condition. Both viewed identical product descriptions differing only in pricing procedure.
They completed two validated scales: a 4-item Perceived Autonomy Scale (adapted from the Basic Psychological Needs Scale) and the 7-item Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale.. Independent-samples t-tests and a simple mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 4) tested whether pricing condition (0 = fixed, 1 = self-pricing) affected well-being through autonomy.
Results
Participants in the self-determined pricing condition reported significantly higher perceived autonomy (M = 5.8, SD = 0.7) than those in the fixed-price condition (M = 4.9, SD = 0.9), t(58) = 3.92, p < .001. Similarly, mental well-being scores were higher in the self-pricing group (t(58) = 2.71, p = .009). Mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect effect of pricing condition on well-being through perceived autonomy (β = 0.23, 95% CI [0.09, 0.39]), indicating partial mediation. The findings suggest that allowing individuals to participate in decision-making activates autonomy-related processes, leading to transient improvements in positive mood and perceived quality of life.