Experimental Economics in Marketing

Experimental economics employs laboratory and field experiments to characterize human behavior subject to economic constraints as well as to characterize economic behavior subject to human constraints. Despite a diversity of opinions, experimental economists adhere to a common set of research principles and methodologies that have developed over the years and distinguish this set of methodologies from experimental methodologies established in other disciplines. In recent years, the methodology of experimental economics has entered mainstream marketing research and has grown increasingly popular. This review presents an outline of the fundamental methodology of economic experiments as implemented in marketing research, gives examples of recent marketing experiments that adhere to the tenets of experimental economics, and organizes the marketing research employing experimental economics methodology into distinct topics, with additional detail on theory and applications.