The effect of discounts on consumer purchase decision indices: a case study of e-commerce using secondary data

The rapid growth of e-commerce has intensified competition among digital businesses, making pricing and discount strategies critical in influencing consumer purchase decisions. This study aims to examine the effect of original product price and price after discount on consumer purchase decisions on e-commerce platforms. A quantitative causal research design was employed using secondary data derived from publicly available e-commerce transaction records. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression to assess the partial and simultaneous effects of pricing variables on purchase decisions, which were measured using a price-based purchase decision index. The findings indicate that both original price and discounted price have a significant negative effect on consumer purchase decisions. This suggests that lower displayed and final prices increase consumers’ likelihood of making a purchase. Furthermore, the discounted price was found to exert a more dominant influence than the original price, highlighting the importance of perceived value in online purchasing behavior. This study contributes to the digital marketing literature by providing empirical evidence on pricing effects in e-commerce and offers practical insights for e-commerce platforms in designing effective and data-driven pricing and discount strategies.