Just-below pricing (99-cent endings) is a common marketing tool used to attract customers looking to get a bang for their buck.

But a Rutgers professor says – in some cases – a penny saved doesn’t always translate into a penny earned for retailers.

“The difference between a good product and a poor product in the consumers’ eyes could come down to that penny,” says Robert Schindler, a professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business. “When consumers care more about product quality than price, just-below pricing has been found to actually hurt retail sales.”

For years, he has studied the marketing strategy behind pricing an item at, say, $29.99 instead of $30. The penny may not seem like much, but people actually perceive a big difference in price and think they’re getting a bargain.

Psychology of Pricing

The illusion, Schindler says, isn’t the last number on the price tag. It’s the first number.

“People focus more on the left-most digit,” says Schindler, “Just-below pricing certainly makes it seem like the price is less than it actually is. It gives an image of being a bargain or a discount.”

Schindler says most people won’t perceive a big difference in price between a $20 item and a $25 item. But by dropping the price of each item by one cent, “something that costs $19.99 is considered much less expensive when compared to something priced $24.99.”

Good Deal or Cheap Item?

But while just-below pricing has been effective in increasing sales, Schindler has found that it can also work against retailers.

“On the other side, it can give the image that an item is of low or questionable quality,” he says.

Schindler says most people are more concerned about quality over price when buying luxury products, services, or making risky purchases.

“Retailers don’t want those items to come across as cheap,” Schindler says. “For example, if you’re going to do some work on a person’s house, you wouldn’t want your price to reflect that you might do a poor job. In that case, the customer is concerned about quality and I would suggest not using 99-cent endings. It’s better to be straightforward when selling that kind of product.”

Schindler has been recognized as one of the top pricing researchers in the world by an article published in the Journal of Business Research, which surveyed the articles, authors, and institutions that have contributed most to the topic of pricing over the past 30 years.

Over the years, Schindler’s research has had a profound impact on how marketers, retailers, and scholars study consumer behavior.

September 7, 2011

The Healthy Mind Network

 
This story is editorially adapted (by The Healthy Mind staff) from information provided by Rutgers University and EurekAlerts!. Image Credit: Patrick Hoesly.