Résumé:
This master's dissertation investigates the role of pricing strategy in shaping customer
engagement within the Algerian ride-hailing sector, using Heetch El Djazair as an empirical
case study. In a hyper-competitive digital marketplace characterized by extreme price
sensitivity, low switching costs, and widespread multi-homing behavior, pricing has
transcended its traditional marketing mix function to become the primary lever of cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral consumer engagement.
Grounded in a sequential mixed-methods design, this research first conducted an exploratory
qualitative study through semi-structured interviews with four key operational managers at
Heetch El Djazair — an Operations Business Analyst, a Competitor Monitoring Specialist, a
Customer Care Officer, and a CRM Marketing Expert — to decode the platform's internal yield
management mechanisms. The qualitative phase revealed that Heetch calibrates its fares
through a systematic real-time feedback loop anchored in three consumer-facing dimensions:
comparative competitiveness, economic accessibility, and pricing transparency and fairness.
These three dimensions were subsequently operationalized into a quantitative survey
administered to 162 Algerian ride-hailing users. Multiple linear regression analysis via SPSS
yielded an exceptionally robust explanatory model (R² = 0.921, F = 612.78, p < 0.001),
confirming all three hypotheses: Comparative Competitiveness emerged as the dominant
predictor (β = 0.430), followed by Economic Accessibility (β = 0.283) and Transparency and
Fairness (β = 0.247). Together, these dimensions account for 92.1% of the variance in customer
engagement.
These findings establish that in the Algerian VTC market, price perception is a
multidimensional construct that decisively governs consumer loyalty and platform attachment.
This dissertation concludes with actionable strategic recommendations, proposing that Heetch
transition from reactive manual pricing checks toward automated, API-driven competitive
intelligence systems, implement transparent fare-breakdown interfaces, and deploy CRM-based
precision promotional strategies to sustainably convert price-sensitive users into deeply
engaged brand advocates
