Oops, the price changed! Examining tourists' attribution patterns and blame towards pricing dynamics

The rise of algorithms in the travel industry has complicated the pricing dynamics of travel products and services. This research examines tourists' cognitions of how personalized dynamic pricing, a branch of dynamic pricing common on travel platforms, has been blended with traditional revenue management. A mixed -methods approach was employed to examine visitors' perceptions of price fairness, causal inferences, and blame attribution in relation to these pricing dynamics. Once the service provider and platform were identified as the parties liable for price changes, a pathway was established from various price difference scenarios to travelers' perceptions of price fairness, subsequent behavioral intentions, and blame attribution. The results suggest that segment -based price difference is more likely to trigger tourists' blame attribution on travel platforms. And tourists tend to generate more acceptable causes for service providers than platforms when they make causal inferences of price discrepancy. By considering the procedural aspect, this research delves into tourists' fairness perception and tries to reveal the intricate interactions between tourists, travel platforms, and service providers. Managerial suggestions are provided in closing to facilitate the buyer -seller relationship.