When was the last time you bought a pizza without a coupon?

Due to all the competition between fast food retailers, coupons for free food are becoming quite common. A lot of fast food companies give free food coupons when they open, just to get people inside and take a liking to the food in the hope that they will return. Pizza chains are credited with starting the trend on coupons, with each company trying to outdo the other by offering lots of lots of deals, which are a hit with consumers but don't end up in increasing sales for the restaurants.

Elisabeth Gilster De Velazquez, associate professor of marketing at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., says issuing coupons, whether they're for free burritos or buy-one-get-one-free French fries, hasn't been successful for chains on a regular basis.

"In the long run it's going to hurt them if they keep doing it," Velazquez says. "If you keep using them over time, your consumers are not going to want to pay full price again. They're going to get used to the reduced prices or the free stuff. You're conditioning your consumers to conceive that your product doesn't have the same value as it would at full price."

I seriously can't remember when I bought a pizza at full price. All the local pizza retailers, Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa Johns continuously bombard us with ads, coupons, scratch cards etc.