One popular pricing objective is to:

• A. minimize willingness to pay
• B. capture as much consumer surplus as possible
• C. maximize consumer surplus
• D. set prices below marginal cost

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of consumer surplus: it is the difference between what consumers are willing to pay for a good and what they actually pay.
2. Recognize that a common pricing objective for firms is to capture as much consumer surplus as possible, which means setting prices to extract maximum willingness to pay from consumers.
3. Eliminate options that do not align with typical firm objectives: minimizing willingness to pay is not feasible, maximizing consumer surplus benefits consumers rather than firms, and setting prices below marginal cost leads to losses.
4. Recall that capturing consumer surplus often involves price discrimination or strategic pricing to increase firm profits.
5. Conclude that the correct pricing objective among the options is to capture as much consumer surplus as possible.