The Black Friday Effect: The Moderating Impact of Event-Specific Promotions on the Relationship Between Deal Level and Deal Attractiveness

Event-specific price promotions such as Black Friday promotions play an important role for retailers’ promotional activities. The question arises whether some discounts levels are more attractive when communicated as an event-specific promotion or as a regular price promotion. The study shows that the effect of deal level on consumers’ perceived deal attractiveness depends on the promotion framing. For low discounts, framing promotions as “Black Friday Promotion” leads to a higher deal attractiveness than regular promotion framing. When a high discount is offered, the promotions are perceived as equally attractive. The results indicate that price consciousness plays a moderating role in this relationship. Consumers with high levels of price consciousness show stronger reactions to the interaction of discount level and promotion framing. Surprisingly, highly price conscious consumers evaluate Black Friday Promotions at high discount levels as less attractive than regular promotions.