You are correct: Revenue Management is…..NOT fair! That’s the whole point!

The amount of times I hear that “it’s not fair” and the same person promoting an increase in rates because of demand is the same person crying because their rent increased….based on demand. The constant…make it cheaper…a that is good….make it more expensive….ah no, we need to put a max on it as “some might not be able to buy it”.

Let’s get to it…

“That’s Not Fair…”

We’re standing in a supermarket, staring at two identical chocolate bars with two very different prices. Hayden looks at me and says, “That’s not fair. Why is one more expensive?” And at face value, he’s right. Same product, same shelf, different price.

A few hours later, same kid, same chocolate bar… different situation. BUT, now is dinner time. Suddenly, it’s not about the product anymore. It’s about the conditions around the product. Did he finish his homework? Did he behave? Has he already had enough sugar today?

The “price” has changed. Before, it was money. Now, it’s behavior, timing, and negotiation. He’s basically trading TV time, good behavior, anything he can get his hands on to get the chocolate.

And here’s the interesting part. In the supermarket, he calls it unfair.

At home, he fully accepts it. Same product. Different context. Completely different perception of what is “fair”. Because now it is not “fairness”….it is logic.

The Question Nobody Likes Asking

Here’s where it gets uncomfortable. In revenue management, we don’t just ask what we can charge. We should be asking whether we should. Because technically, we can charge differently for almost anything. Different device, different country, different timing, different behavior. Someone browsing on an iPad versus a Mac. Someone booking from the UAE versus Germany. Someone who has booked five times before versus someone new. The data is there. The segmentation is easy. The question is not capability anymore.

The real question is: Where is the line?

When Pricing Becomes Personal

Let’s take a step outside hotels. There are countries where fines are calculated as a percentage of your income. If you earn $1,000, you pay 10%. If you earn $1,000,000, you also pay 10%. Same rule, completely different absolute impact. And interestingly, most people accept that as more fair, not less. Because the outcome feels proportionate to the individual.

Now bring that back to pricing. If someone is willing to pay more, is it fair to charge them more? If someone has fewer options, is it acceptable to increase the price? If someone is less informed, should they pay the same as someone who knows exactly what they’re doing?

This is where revenue management quietly turns into ethics. And of course, do we want ethics in revenue management? or should we keep going until we “don’t” get away with it anymore.

What Behavioral Science Tells Us

Humans don’t evaluate price in isolation. They evaluate it through perception, context, and internal narratives. That’s where biases come in.

Anchoring sets expectations. The first number seen becomes the reference point. Framing changes interpretation. “Upgrade for $50” feels different from “Enjoy a better experience for just $50.” Loss aversion makes people act faster when they fear missing out. But the most important one here is fairness bias.

People don’t reject prices because they are high. They reject them when they feel unjustified.

That feeling is not rational. It’s neurological. The brain literally flags unfair situations as threats. So even if your pricing is mathematically perfect, if it violates perceived fairness, conversion drops.

The Role of the Revenue Manager

This is where the job becomes more than optimization. A revenue manager is not just adjusting prices based on demand. They are managing perception of value under uncertainty.

Yes, you can charge differently based on behavior, timing, and context. That’s the foundation of the discipline. But the moment it feels like you are exploiting rather than aligning, you cross a line. Not a legal one. A trust one. And trust, once gone, is brutally expensive to rebuild.

A Simple Filter

Instead of asking “Will this increase revenue?”, a better filter is:

“Would this still make sense if the customer fully understood it?”

Because that’s the real test. If your pricing only works when the customer doesn’t notice, you’re not optimizing. You’re hiding.

If it still holds when it’s transparent, then you’re aligned.

The Conclusion

Revenue management is, at its core, the art of differentiation. Different people, different prices, different conditions. That part is not up for debate. What is up for debate is how far you take it.

Because just because you can charge more, doesn’t mean you should….or should you?!?!?!

Love,

Fabi

Bit about me: I’m Fabian Bartnick, also known as Fabi — a Commercial Intelligence Leader who helps companies make better decisions by connecting data, marketing, sales, revenue management, and communication.

Over the past years I’ve built and exited hospitality tech companies, trained thousands of leaders worldwide, invested in startups, and helped organizations align their commercial teams to drive measurable growth.

TL;DR: I make people better and companies more money by changing the way they think.

If you’re ready to align your sales, marketing, and data into one unstoppable growth engine connect with me on LinkedIn.