Hello my nerdy friends,
There are multiple ways you can manipulate the price of your products or services to get more sales.
Let’s take a look at one of them.
The research:
Across four lab tests, people were shown or told different versions of the same price. Sometimes they heard them out loud (“fourteen ninety-three” vs “one thousand four hundred ninety-three”).
Other times they saw them written down in ads, with or without commas and cents (like $1499 vs $1,499.85).
Then, everyone rated how “big” or “expensive” each price felt (Coulter et al., 2011.)
Findings:
Even when the number was the same, prices that looked or sounded longer felt more expensive.
Adding commas or cents (like $1,499.85) made people think the price was higher than when it appeared as $1499.
The effect showed up whether people heard or just saw the prices.
Why?
Our lazy brains use processing time as a shortcut for size.
So, if something takes longer to say out loud or in our heads or looks longer on paper, our brain assumes it’s bigger, aka more expensive.
That’s why “one thousand five hundred ninety-nine” feels more expensive than “fifteen ninety-nine,” even though they mean the same thing.
Caveats
The study tested the same number with cents or commas added, so the results don’t necessarily mean that $30(thir-ty) will seem less than $27(twen-ty sev-en).
Takeaway
If you want a price to feel more affordable, remove commas and cents.
See you next week,
Ksenia, the chief nerd
P.S. Thank you, it means a lot that marketers and business owners like you are reading my newsletter.
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