Rebates - its one fact of pricing strategy

During class this evening there was lot of discussion on rebates. Whether we like them or not they are part of the pricing strategy manufactures use to "push" their products. I came across an article that you may find useful (sorry it is lengthy) - http://www.cba.ufl.edu/mkt/docs/janiszewski/Rebate.pdf

As a Marketing Manager I have successfully used rebates in the past to promote a product, and yes sales during the period the rebate was offered did increase by 12%. One may argue if the increase in sales was directly related to rebate or other factors? Yes, most of the incremental increase was directly attributed to the rebate.

Happy reading