What does price discrimination involve?

Price discrimination involves charging different groups of consumers varying prices for the same product, which reflects their willingness to pay. It occurs when a seller can identify different segments of the market and can set different prices accordingly. This strategy is often employed to maximize profit by capturing consumer surplus from each segment. For example, a movie theater might charge lower prices for students and seniors compared to regular adult tickets, based on the different price sensitivities of each group.

The concept hinges on the seller's ability to prevent reselling between the different groups and to have some degree of market power. This is distinct from simply offering discounts during promotions, which are temporary price reductions and do not differentiate among consumer segments based on willingness to pay. Uniform pricing across all markets would mean everyone pays the same, which does not align with the definition of price discrimination, nor does it maximize the potential revenue that can be generated from different consumer groups.