Pricing objectives and methods: A research on SME's

Price, as an output of all efforts related to profitability of organizations, makes various business functions involved in pricing. All business functions participate in these efforts are influenced by the results of pricing and also influence pricing process. The purpose of this research is to detect differences and similarities between business functions such as management, marketing and finance in the context of pricing objectives and methods. In this regard, a survey which study consists of 18 pricing objectives and 19 pricing methods got from the literature was applied on 326 executives who work in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) which operate in services, manufacturing and merchandising industries. In the analysis of data, Chi-square Test of Independence and One Way Variance Analysis (ANOVA) were used. According to the results, the most adopted pricing methods are cost-based methods. Furthermore, marketing and finance functions think the methods related to competition are more important than company owners do. Key Words: Price, Pricing Objectives, Pricing Methods, Business Functions