Clever Tactics That Boost Conversions (and Why)

Think of your product.

Perhaps it could be described as:

• Sharp
• Unique
• Precise

Well, those descriptions can also apply to digits. Strive for congruence when possible: Adjectives that describe your product should also describe your price.

Why It Works

• Congruence. Buying tickets to a concert? Since you want an emotional experience, you prefer discounts that are emotional (e.g., chance to win free tickets) because of this congruence (Chandon et al., 2000). Digits are merely a different medium to reach this alignment.
• Scaffolding of the Mind. All abstract ideas are built from primitive ideas that we learned early in life — e.g., spatial distance helped us learn numerical distance. These primitive ideas can add neural connections between two seemingly different domains (e.g., products and digits).

How to Apply

• Charge Round Prices For Round Products. In a pilot study, I alternated $9.37 and $10 for a knife and hammer. Participants significantly preferred $10 for hammer even though $9.37 was cheaper.
• Charge Round Prices for Networking Events. Customers who want social connectivity will prefer numerical connectivity (e.g., $50 is connected to many numbers). For example, participants were asked to rate the loneliness of each number from 1 to 100, and they attributed more loneliness to prime numbers that couldn't be divided. Same with prices: While comparing $19 and $21, lonely participants were less deterred by $21 because of its connections to 3 and 7 (Yan & Sengupta, 2021).

• Vary Your Digits to Convey Variety. Product variety seems higher when customers are exposed to more visual diversity (e.g., random shapes, types of people in ads; Khan et al., 2024). And I confirmed this effect in a pilot study: Repeating digits in a price reduced the perceived variety in a box of chocolates because people expected more repetition in the box.
• Charge Precise Prices For Analytical Tools. Customers preferred a calculator with a precise price of $39.72 or $40.29 (vs. $40; Wadhwa & Zhang, 2015). Though one study failed to replicate this effect (Harms et al., 2018). And I couldn't replicate a similar approach. I asked respondents to rate the accuracy of a kitchen scale, and I altered the precision of the price ($18, $19.73, $20, $21.73). But these varying levels of precision didn't influence the perceived accuracy of the scale.
• Charge Paired Digits For Paired Products. Would $7.88 convert better for a pair of socks? Similar effects happen with colors: Lonely customers prefer two colors that look similar because this visual companionship feels like social companionship (Kwon et al., 2024). Or maybe 88 can "feel right" for socks because the visual roundness resembles the shape of a sock. Perhaps 7 or 9 could deter customers because each digit has a visually sharp endpoint at the bottom.
• Charge Lucky Digits For Lucky Products. Prices in Singapore convert better with 8 because it's a lucky number (Westjohn et al., 2017). Perhaps this idea can explain why Western marketers love 7-ending prices. Or perhaps 7-ending prices convert better for products that require luck (e.g., lottery tickets, mystery boxes, trading cards).

Caveats

• More Research is Needed. This fundamental idea is widely supported, but the individual pricing applications need more empirical validation. I've been conducting a few pilot studies to test some of these effects, and I'll update this tactic with any successes or failures.
• Semantics vs. Visuals. Respondents preferred $10 for a hammer, but I'm not sure if this preference was due to shared roundness in the semantic idea or visual roundness of 0.

• Chandon, P., Wansink, B., & Laurent, G. (2000). A benefit congruency framework of sales promotion effectiveness. Journal of marketing, 64(4), 65-81.
• Khan, U., Kim, S., Choi, S., & Labroo, A. (2024). Diversity Representations in Advertising: Enhancing Variety Perceptions and Brand Outcomes. Journal of Consumer Research, ucae060.
• Kwon, M., Jeon, E., & Han, Y. (2024). The social side of color: How social exclusion influences preferences for color combination. Psychology & Marketing.
• Schumacher, A., Goukens, C., Geyskens, K., & Nielsen, J. H. (2024). Revisiting surprise appeals: How surprise labeling curtails consumption. Journal of Consumer Psychology.
• Wadhwa, M., & Zhang, K. (2015). This number just feels right: The impact of roundedness of price numbers on product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(5), 1172-1185.
• Wang, Y., Jiang, J., & Yang, Y. (2023). Magic odd numbers: The effect of numerical parity on variety-seeking. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 73, 103345.
• Westjohn, S. A., Roschk, H., & Magnusson, P. (2017). Eastern versus western culture pricing strategy: Superstition, lucky numbers, and localization. Journal of International Marketing, 25(1), 72-90.
• Yan, D., & Sengupta, J. (2021). The effects of numerical divisibility on loneliness perceptions and consumer preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(5), 755-771.

Should prices end with 99 or 95?

It depends on the base price. Customers preferred:

• $3.99 and $6.99 for cheap items (e.g., cheese, bug spray)
• $49.95 for expensive items (e.g., kettle)

(Gendall, 1998; Schindler, 2006).

Researchers are unsure why this happens, but I have a hunch. The size of the price doesn't matter. What matters is the expected price.

I confirmed this effect in a pilot study.

I asked people to imagine buying flip flops, and I adjusted the expected and final price. The interaction was significant:

• $18.99 was preferred when expecting $25
• $18.95 was preferred when expecting $12

Why It Works

Suppose that you expect to pay $12 for flip flops.

Then you see $18.95. How does it feel?

Well, you evaluate this price by starting at $12, then traveling upward. Even though $18.95 is higher than you expected, it stopped early. It could be higher.

But $18.99 is pushed to the highest threshold in this bracket. So it feels more painful.

Conversely, an expected price of $25 will result in downward motion. Now $18.99 feels good because it pushed through a numerical boundary, while $18.95 feels like it has wiggle room to move even lower.

For simplicity:

• End in 99 for low prices
• End in 95 for high prices

But ultimately, the choice between 99 vs. 95 depends on the expected price and whether customers are traveling upward or downward to reach your actual price.

• Gendall, P. (1998). Estimating the effect of odd pricing. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 7(5), 421-432.
• Schindler, R. M. (2006). The 99 price ending as a signal of a low-price appeal. Journal of Retailing, 82(1), 71-77.

What is your product benefit?

Some products create an increase or decrease:

• Skin creams reduce wrinkles
• Shampoos increase silkiness
• Air fresheners remove odors

And you might depict a separate change:

• Increase in skin cells
• Increase in blood flow
• Reduction of hormones

Both directions should be consistent even if they're unrelated (Bharti & Sussman, 2024).

Customers preferred:

• An energy supplement that increased a hormone
• A sleep supplement that decreased a hormone

Why It Works

• Processing Fluency. Something feels right, and we blame the product.

How to Apply

• Tweak Your Explanation. Does your cream reduce wrinkles? Describe the reduction of collagen, rather than the increasing turnover of skin cells (Bharti & Sussman, 2024).
• Tweak Your Branding. Does your supplement reduce anxiety by increasing chemicals? Swap your positioning so that it increases calmness.
• Describe an Increase When Possible. Explanations with an increase often converted better. Similar effects occur with size: Bigger seems better, even if size is irrelevant to actual benefits (Silvera et al., 2002).

Related Applications

• Align Directionality of Discounts. Which is better: save 30% or get 30% off? It depends on the directionality of the purchase: Discounts should reduce losses for prevention needs (e.g., save 30% on a first aid kit), but increase gains for acquisition needs (e.g., extra 30% off for bulk purchases; Ramanathan & Dhar, 2010).

• Bharti, S., & Sussman, A. B. (2024). Consumers Prefer Products That Work Using Directionally Consistent Causal Chains. Journal of Consumer Research, ucae066.
• Ramanathan, S., & Dhar, S. K. (2010). The effect of sales promotions on the size and composition of the shopping basket: Regulatory compatibility from framing and temporal restrictions. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(3), 542-552.
• Silvera, D. H., Josephs, R. A., & Giesler, R. B. (2002). Bigger is better: The influence of physical size on aesthetic preference judgments. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 15(3), 189-202.

Every price is relative.

Customers evaluate the size of prices by comparing them to a visible range (Janiszewski & Lichtenstein, 1999).

For example, a $10 gadget can be viewed differently:

• Cheap in a range from $8 to $15
• Meh in a range from $5 to $15
• Expensive in a range from $5 to $12

Same price. Different perceptions.

Can't lower your price? Try raising the highest pice in your range.

Customers prefer:

• A $50 ribeye near a $200 wine
• A $200 projector near a $5,000 projector
• A $5,000 proposal near a $25,000 proposal

In a catalog of 8 cameras from $50—$75, customers were willing to spend more when they saw a $600 camera (Krishna et al., 2006).

Requirement: Multiple Products

Be careful if you sell variations of a single product (e.g., SaaS plans).

Customers engage in two types of processing:

• Discrimination - Evaluating the differences among objects
• Generalization - Evaluating a summarized view of objects

Oftentimes, a single product triggers generalization.

Why does that matter? Because it reverses the recommendation. Raising the highest pice would backfire for customers with a summarized view because the average price would now be higher (Cunha Jr & Shulman, 2011).

Adapt your approach based on this mindset:

• Discrimination? Raise the endpoints of your prices (e.g., raise bottom, raise top)
• Generalization? Lower the mean of your prices (e.g., lower bottom, add cheaper items).

How to Apply

• Delay Expensive Products for New Customers. Existing customers should prefer a $65 shirt near a $300 shirt. But new customers will be assessing your overall store image upon their first exposure. In this summary mindset, a $300 shirt would make all prices (including a $65 shirt) seem more expensive.
• Add a Small or Free SaaS Tier. Software is usually a single platform (thus a summary mindset). Try lowering the mean of your prices by adding a cheap plan so that all plans seem cheaper.
• Raise the Upper Limit of Price Sliders. You might provide a UI slider for customers to choose their price (e.g., donation, bonus, auction bid). With a range from $0 to $1,000, the midpoint is $500. But if you raise the upper limit to $2,000, the midpoint (and inferred social norm) is now $1,000 (Thomas & Kyung, 2019).

Related Applications

• Expand Ranked Lists. Are you ranked #2 in your Top 5 competitors? Well, why not include 50 competitors? Or 100 competitors? You just moved from the top 40% to the top 2% without any effort (Xie et al., 2024).

• Cunha Jr, M., & Shulman, J. D. (2011). Assimilation and contrast in price evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(5), 822-835.
• Janiszewski, C., & Lichtenstein, D. R. (1999). A range theory account of price perception. Journal of consumer Research, 25(4), 353-368.
• Krishna, A., Wagner, M., Yoon, C., & Adaval, R. (2006). Effects of extreme-priced products on consumer reservation prices. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(2), 176-190.
• Thomas, M., & Kyung, E. J. (2019). Slider scale or text box: how response format shapes responses. Journal of Consumer Research, 45(6), 1274-1293.
• Xie, V., Cai, F., & Bagchi, R. (2024). EXPRESS: The Rank Length Effect. Journal of Marketing Research, 00222437241268439.

Space can distort meaning.

For example, a list of benefits in a pricing plan can seem smaller (and less appealing) with a lot of empty space (Kwan et al., 2017).

But what if smallness is desired? Like pricing?

For example, you typically see two sections on a product page:

• What you get
• What you pay

Try shrinking the spatial width of payment sections so that customers feel like they're "getting more" while "paying less."

Like Amazon pages:

After sharing this idea in my newsletter, I noticed that Walmart changed the layout of their product pages a few months later to apply this advice:

Why It Works

• Price Feels Smaller. Something about the payment feels smaller, and customers blame the price.
• Checkout Seems Easier. Same effect with the "amount" of effort in the next step.
• Button Feel More Clickable Toward the Right. By shrinking the size of a payment section, you can push this interaction further toward the right side of the screen so that it feels more touchable and clickable for right-handers (who comprise most of the population). In a pilot study, I confirmed that right-handers prefer buttons on the right, while left-handers prefer buttons on the left.

How to Apply

• Categorize Layouts By Costs and Benefits. In their old page, Walmart included details about the product inside the payment section. But now there's a clearer distinction between what you get vs. what you pay.
• Shrink at Every Gestalt Level. Payment sections should consume less space in the layout, while prices should consume less space within its section of the layout.
• Don't Forget SaaS and Other Contexts. Perhaps you'll get more signups if your price consumes a smaller portion of height, leaving benefits to consume most of the space.