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.