If You Think 9-Ending Prices Are Low, Think Again

Arbeitspapier

9-ending prices are a dominant feature of many retail settings, which according to the existing literature, is because consumers perceive them as being relatively low. Are 9-ending prices really lower than comparable non 9-ending prices? Surprisingly, the empirical evidence on this question is scarce. We use 8 years of weekly scanner price data with over 98 million price observations to document four findings. First, at the category level, 9-ending prices are usually higher, on average, than non 9-ending prices. Second, at the product level, in most cases, 9-ending prices are, on average, higher than prices with other endings. Third, sale prices are more likely to be non-9 ending than the corresponding regular prices. Fourth, among sale prices, 9-ending prices are often lower, on average, than comparable non 9-ending prices. The first three findings imply that although consumers may associate 9-ending prices with low prices, the data indicates otherwise. The fourth finding offers a possible explanation for this misperception. Retailers may be using 9-ending prices to draw consumers’ attention to particularly large price cuts during sales, which perhaps conditions the shoppers to associate 9-ending prices with low prices.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marketing and Advertising: General ; Marketing ; Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms ; Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics: Industrial Structure and Structural Change; Industrial Price Indices ; Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce ; Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis ; Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis ; Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: General ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General‡ ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
• Subject: Behavioral Pricing ; Psychological Prices ; Price Perception ; Image Effect ; 9-Ending Prices ; Price Points ; Regular Prices ; Sale Prices

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Snir, Avichai ; Levy, Daniel
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
• (where): Kiel, Hamburg
• (when): 2019

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/198044
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET