Airbnb recently announced a new pricing strategy. Airbnb customers have been complaining about the company’s lack of transparent pricing, so Airbnb decided to embrace a more transparent model.
If you review some past pricing studies, this is a risky, although more ethical, move. According to the Wall Street Journal, Stubhub discovered that 13% more people bought tickets when the pricing was hidden rather than transparent. This led Stubhub to switch their pricing back to hidden fees.
Personally, I believe this will hurt them long term.
Proverbs 14:8 teaches, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.”
In my opinion, companies who desire to have an ethical relationship with their customers should consider transparent pricing rather than deceptive pricing.
