I feel like I can’t look anywhere at the moment without seeing price trumpeted for good or ill. From advertisements about energy price drops to the tale of Tesco, it’s in the news, in my Twitter feed and in my ad breaks.

“Price drop!”

“Retailers put their prices up so that they can lower them later and tell you that you’re making savings.”

“We have the lowest price. Ever. Of all time. Guaranteed.”

“You’re being ripped off by whatever [insert sector/brand here] you’re currently using. We’ll give you the best prices. Honest.”

As a consumer, I must admit, it’s difficult to navigate what I can trust. In my professional capacity, I wonder about the longevity of the strategy.

Let’s start with my perspective as a consumer – because, as I’ve said before, if we don’t start from that point, we might as well go home. I’m constantly bombarded with messages about price from so many different places.

In the first instance, this makes it harder for each message to stand out. It often means I only remember the very latest that I’ve heard because, honestly, I’ve got about a million things to think about, some of which don’t even have to do with shopping (believe it or not). Not an entirely rosy picture for any brand or company, especially if they don’t have the budget for constant communication.

As a result of this proliferation of price promotion, I end up fairly confused about what the baseline is which makes me even less trustful of the information I’m getting from the retailers and brands themselves. And, I wasn’t very trustful of these claims in the first place. Not to mention the fact that I often wonder what I’m sacrificing to get these low prices. In the long-run, then, there is the risk that “massaging” the figures has a negative impact on reputation and equity that undermines the relationship any brand is trying to establish with me, as a consumer.

Unless you’ve got the clout to create a monopoly (which in this age is rare), strategically, a focus on price can be difficult to sustain. Your competitors only have to drop their prices to invalidate your claims or force you to drop your prices, therefore edging your margins lower and lower. While there’s something to be said for a loss leader, you can’t have a balance sheet comprised entirely of them. When times or better or the right note is struck, other claims can be more compelling, leaving you behind the game.

I used to shop at the Tesco around the corner. But, when I went to online shopping, I didn’t choose Tesco for a variety of reasons to long to elaborate. Apart from the occasional last minute purchase, their share of my family’s wallet has dropped considerably. The price drop is unlikely to persuade me to change back. As for the energy companies, I fell into that trap once. Too much hassle. Too much fuss. I’ll stay where I am. Even airlines can’t over-rely on this (especially in America – don’t even get me started there). There are some I rule out, and I’d rule them out even if they were paying me to fly with them.

All this is not to say that price doesn’t play an important role in any sector or category and among a certain consumer segment. Your value equation has to be good – you have to be worth the price you’re expecting people to pay. But, if you’re relying on solely or almost solely price messages, it’s quite likely you’ll struggle in the long-run. You need a broader underlying strategy in which price plays only a part. Because, you see, price is important, but it isn’t everything.

Tara is a Research Director at Ipsos ASI.