Typology and Ranking of Price Discount Frames: A mixed study

Objective: In recent years, various approaches have been used in the implementation of marketing activities and advancing the sales goals of companies. One of the most widely used is the use of various discount frames, and one of the most important issues in companies is the use of product-friendly frames to exploit them more effectively. Lack of coherent knowledge about the types of discount frames and its effectiveness in sales is the motivation for this research. In this research, a combined approach has been used and the research has been done in two consecutive phases, qualitative and quantitative.One of the most important issues in price discounts is the formatting of these discounts and utilizing frames that are proper for the product and discount condition to exploit them more effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a comprehensive list of types of discount templates and use the opinion of sales experts to find out their effectiveness.

Methodology: In this research, a mix approach has been used and the research has been done in 2 consecutive phases. The first stage was performed by systematically reviewing the studies of the last 10 years and using the three-step process of Turnfield et al. (2003) in which 87 articles were selected and analyzed. Then, in the second stage, during a quantitative study in the community of experts and data collection, through a questionnaire, the discount frames identified in the first phase were ranked and the most effective discount templates on the company's profit were identified by fuzzy TOPSIS method.

Findings: Based on the data analysis, in the first phase, the identified discount frames were arranged in six categories The result of phase 1 is the provision of a list of discount frames and their typological model., and in the second phase, a ranking list of ten selected templates was obtained. In the second phase of the research, after asking managers and business professionals how to arrange discount frames in terms of affecting the company's profits, after analyzing the data, we achieved the following prioritization:
1. Cash discount
2. Percent discount
3. Volumetric discount
4. discount based on Events
5. Discount on customer performance

Conclusion: If companies want to include discount programs in sales, they must first review the appropriate discount frames and consciously choose the discount template. Discount management In terms of type of discount, discount threshold and discount time can prevent profit leakage and obtain the values offered by the firm