CAMDEN — Just-below pricing, prices that end with 99-cents, are a common marketing gimmick but a penny saved doesn't always translate into a penny earned for retailers.
In a meta-analysis of the effect 99-cent price endings have on consumers, Robert Schindler, a professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden, 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.
The illusion, Schindler says, isn't the last number on the price tag. It's the first number.
"The difference between a good product and a poor product in the consumers' eyes could come down to that penny. When consumers care more about product quality than price, just-below pricing has been found to actually hurt retail sales.
"People focus more on the left-most digit. 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."
Just-below pricing has clearly been effective in increasing sales but 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. 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."