Experimental analysis of the zero price effect on consumer decision-making

According to the neoclassical school of economics' homo economicus assumption, the individual, who is one of the economic actors, exhibits rational behavior and chooses the best option for himself by considering all options in his choices. However, according to behavioral economics, an individual can make irrational and biased decisions by being affected by the traps in the market during the decision-making process. Therefore, empirical studies in this area are significant. In this study, one of the cognitive traps, the "zero price effect," which is claimed to have a critical impact on consumer decisions, is discussed. The fundamental purpose of this study that experimentally analyzes the "zero price effect." For this purpose, a natural field experiment has been performed on 206 students studying at Sirnak University. The experiment that carried out in two stages. In the experiment, it was tested whether there was a significant difference in the preferences between the participant groups in the two stages. The Paired Samples T-test, which is a dependent two-sample t-test, was used in the natural field test analysis. The experiment was carried out in two stages, the first and the second. In the first stage of the experiment, individuals preferred the more expensive product after the discount. In the second stage of the experiment, it was determined that individuals preferred the free product with the discount applied. As a result, it has been determined that free has a psychological effect on consumer decisions and that the zero price effect is statistically significant.