{"id":1365,"date":"2014-06-20T06:46:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T13:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1365"},"modified":"2014-06-20T06:46:44","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T13:46:44","slug":"dynamic-pricing-at-the-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/dynamic-pricing-at-the-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Dynamic pricing at the zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"come<\/a>The Indianapolis Zoo has adopted dynamic pricing. The policy is combined with increased differentiation in prices between low-demand weekdays and high-demand weekends, and a general increase in prices arising from the increased demand that will flow from the new orangutang exhibit. The Indiana Business Journal<\/em> reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The zoo expects the move to generate more revenue as well as keep peak-day crowds to a more manageable level, improving the visitor experience. Officials are projecting 2014 attendance of 1.28 million, a 24-percent jump over 2013 and the highest count in years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe significant advantage this model offers to visitors is to save money by purchasing further in advance and [visiting] during the week,\u201d said Karen Burns, the zoo\u2019s senior vice president of external relations. \u201cPrices are dynamic, which means that people need to lock in their lowest price by buying online as the prices are subject to increase.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does this make sense? I think it does. I speak from experience in visiting this zoo, that it is less enjoyable when very crowded, and so pricing as a mechanism to even out the distribution of customers, encouraging more people to visit on otherwise quiet days and fewer people to visit on otherwise crowded days is a good idea. This is accomplished in two ways by this scheme – posted differential prices in advance (and advance tickets can be obtained online) for times when the zoo knows well in advance which days are more and less popular, and the addition of dynamic pricing for when there are unforeseen fluctuations in demand.<\/p>\n

I have written<\/a> before<\/a> about why I don’t think we see much dynamic pricing in the arts; presenters don’t want to reveal low demand for shows for fear of sending an adverse signal about the quality of the production. But the zoo is more like professional sports than the arts, in the sense that customers know<\/em> in advance what they are getting (unlike the case for a play or a novel, which we can’t know much about until we have experienced them). If zoo ticket prices fall for some Tuesday in September, it won’t make me think that the animals will be less interesting on that day, in the way that falling prices for a new play might indicate to me that it is not a very good play.<\/p>\n

Is the new system bad for low-income customers? Just focusing on differential pricing by day, plus dynamic pricing, I do not think so. It gives a range of price options rather than a single one, and low-income customers can take advantage of the low-price options. People on a budget are generally glad there are half-price day-of-show theatre tickets, cheap Tuesdays at the movies, and paperback versions of books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indianapolis Zoo has adopted dynamic pricing. The policy is combined with increased differentiation in prices between low-demand weekdays and high-demand weekends, and a general increase in prices arising from the increased demand that will flow from the new orangutang exhibit. The Indiana Business Journal reports: The zoo expects the move to generate more revenue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Orangutang.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-m1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1976,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/02\/dynamic-pricing-and-price-discrimination-are-not-the-same-thing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":0},"title":"Dynamic pricing and price discrimination are not the same thing","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"But a recent article in The Economist (!) confuses the matter. Dynamic pricing occurs when sellers adjust prices on a frequent basis to account for varying shifts in demand, or limitations in supply. Uber raises fares when demand spikes upward and drivers are scarce; sports teams cut prices for tickets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"let's get this straight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/apples-and-oranges.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":813,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/dynamic-pricing-in-a-disaster\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":1},"title":"Dynamic pricing in a disaster","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Dynamic pricing involves adjusting prices for a specific product in light of new information regarding consumer demand (see my earlier post here). Airlines and hotels will increase prices for a specific flight, or a room on a particular night, upwards if sales on those items are more brisk than was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"should have increased the price","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/novacancy-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1621,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/10\/whats-new-in-dynamic-pricing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":2},"title":"What’s new in dynamic pricing?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"October 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a good, well-informed post by Tim Baker on 'The State of Dynamic Pricing'. So, what do we know so far? First, on the term. Dynamic Pricing is not about offering different prices to different market segments, nor is it about scaling the house or other quality differentials, nor about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"they will taste just fine!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bananas.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":657,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/04\/how-dynamic-pricing-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":3},"title":"How dynamic pricing works","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's begin with the basic analysis. It's Tuesday, and you have something on offer for Saturday night. You might be a hotel owner and you have vacancies for that night, your airline might have a scheduled flight from Tulsa to Kansas City with some seats still available, or you might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"must be sold","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/price-markdown.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2972,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2024\/02\/today-in-dynamic-pricing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":4},"title":"Today in dynamic pricing","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a chapter on dynamic pricing in my old book. In a nutshell: dynamic pricing is where the seller adjusts the current price upwards or downwards based upon the most recent information on market conditions. This is not the same as a cinema having discount Tuesdays, since it will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1660,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/10\/what-is-dynamic-pricing-a-clarification\/","url_meta":{"origin":1365,"position":5},"title":"What is dynamic pricing? A clarification (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"October 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"'Dynamic pricing on websites: illegal or unfair?', asks\u00a0\u00c9lo\u00efse Gratton on her blog. 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Dynamic pricing, also known as \u201cadaptive pricing\u201d, \u201cdynamic pricing\u201d or \u201cdiscriminatory pricing\u201d \u00a0or\u00a0first-degree price discrimination, is defined as a practice where organizations attempt to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"first-degree","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/flea-market.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}