Merry christmas and a happy new year (2012-12-25)

[MrBazil2k]

I know... I know... its a bit late so say "Merry Christmas" -_-

But here it comes :

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE :lol:

and best wishes of course !

 

[aatu]

I'd like to chime in to the "0 vs 9" discussion:

59€ does indeed sell better for the masses (a.k.a. "the average joe") than 60€. This is a quite well-established and empirically proven fact in the marketing industry. Problem is, with a niche product with a relatively high price tag(*) and linux as the OS, the average joe might not be OP's prime target, in any case.

While on the contrary, linux people are stereotypically of a higher intellect, and quickly notice the marketing trick, which furthermore leaves them with the impression of dealing with a sleazy car salesman.

(*): though not suggesting it should be lower

 

[7ank0v1c]

Happy New Year =D

 

[Fzero]

happy new year!





hope 2013 brings you all good times [& Pandoras!]

 

[Godmil]

Happy new year

 

[VIVIEN]

Happy New year

 

[RobeeJay]

While on the contrary, linux people are stereotypically of a higher intellect, and quickly notice the marketing trick, which furthermore leaves them with the impression of dealing with a sleazy car salesman.

 People have usually made up their mind if they want something long before they see the price, all the price does is trigger the parts of the brain that decide if you can afford it.

Also, whilst there are people who like to think they have magic brains which aren't affected by .99 psychology tricks, placebos, etc, really you are just kidding yourself. We all are, well maybe not all of us, if you are autistic then you may not be affected.

The rest of us though, we just tell ourselves we don't fall for such obvious tricks to make ourselves feel superior. Which is why when a "news article" which claims that statistically IE users are dumber than Firefox/Chrome users, we fall for it.

The USD price changes daily according to the conversion rate and the prices without VAT are also different...

So it's impossible to find a good way for everyone

Do what everyone else does, have one price for EUR, one price for GBP, one price for USD, and round them up to the nearest nice sounding number which accounts for fluctuations in exchange rates. Then let people choose what one they wish to pay in.

 

[Godmil]

I'm well aware of the psychology of the .99 trick... and it totally works on me. A Steam game that's 7.99 is much more likely to be purchased by me than one that is 8. I respect people that use round numbers, but I feel better about spending money on something that seems cheaper.

 

[Binky]

I'm normally affected by the 'SALE NOW ON' or 'BOGOF' tricks
I feel that since I'm getting something worth more than I'm paying for it, it must be worth getting.
Against this, I am really annoyed my the kind of places that always have a Sale, and never sell things at the prices they were reduced from.
I saw a shop labelled 'stock liquidation sale' recently - doesn't that mean disposing of products to get money? Isn't that what all shops do, all the time?

 

[Fzero]

DFS

 

[hedwards]

While on the contrary, linux people are stereotypically of a higher intellect, and quickly notice the marketing trick, which furthermore leaves them with the impression of dealing with a sleazy car salesman.

 
People have usually made up their mind if they want something long before they see the price, all the price does is trigger the parts of the brain that decide if you can afford it.


Also, whilst there are people who like to think they have magic brains which aren't affected by .99 psychology tricks, placebos, etc, really you are just kidding yourself. We all are, well maybe not all of us, if you are autistic then you may not be affected.


The rest of us though, we just tell ourselves we don't fall for such obvious tricks to make ourselves feel superior. Which is why when a "news article" which claims that statistically IE users are dumber than Firefox/Chrome users, we fall for it.

I'm not, here in China things are never priced like that and I probably buy more stuff here than I do back home. The $X.99 is based upon aesthetics and the observation that people prefer that number. It really doesn't apply if you've already decided that you want or need something, in which case the price on all those things is probably $X.99 rendering it moot.

Now, it might apply to people who haven't yet committed to buying something. But it's purely a social convention which is not hardwired into the brain. If it were, China would have been the first place that you saw that sort of pricing. Or at very least you would see it here. The closest you ever see to it here is 9.9 RMB, and the effect isn't any different than it is back home. But the vast majority of prices are rounded to the nearest RMB.

In other words, if there were anything to it, you'd see it everywhere, the fact that it's mostly restricted to the developed world and really the Western developed world says something about the validity of the hypothesis. Here in China, having to make change would be seen as a positive as they're always looking for ways to make things less efficient so that they can have more people working at the same shop. Seriously, McDonalds here has service that includes employing busboys to pick up the tray when you leave.

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year to everybody.

 

[RobeeJay]

In other words, if there were anything to it, you'd see it everywhere, the fact that it's mostly restricted to the developed world and really the Western developed world says something about the validity of the hypothesis. Here in China, having to make change would be seen as a positive as they're always looking for ways to make things less efficient so that they can have more people working at the same shop. Seriously, McDonalds here has service that includes employing busboys to pick up the tray when you leave.

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year to everybody.

Not necessarily true, it's a bad idea to assume that the reason for it is driven by genetics. It could quite easily be a cultural thing, which people growing up in the West for one reason or another, are exposed to. It might also be a genetic thing that people in the East are culturally trained out of, or it may be due to differences in use of language.

There is no doubt that in most Western countries the practise works, there is however debate on why.

Anyway, some interesting reading which isn't from a peer review journal:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7522426.stm

 

[Fluff]

While on the contrary, linux people are stereotypically of a higher intellect, and quickly notice the marketing trick, which furthermore leaves them with the impression of dealing with a sleazy car salesman.

People have usually made up their mind if they want something long before they see the price, all the price does is trigger the parts of the brain that decide if you can afford it.


Also, whilst there are people who like to think they have magic brains which aren't affected by .99 psychology tricks, placebos, etc, really you are just kidding yourself. We all are, well maybe not all of us, if you are autistic then you may not be affected.


The rest of us though, we just tell ourselves we don't fall for such obvious tricks to make ourselves feel superior. Which is why when a "news article" which claims that statistically IE users are dumber than Firefox/Chrome users, we fall for it.

I don't read articles about money, I was raised in the south where nobody had enough money to waste their time discussing it, so this is the first time I've heard of this "magic .99" trick. I've never felt like something was cheaper or was compelled to buy it because it was 1 cent under the next dollar amount. Price is the last thing I even pay attention to. I decide if I want and need the product, then I buy it.. Or I save for it if I can't currently afford it.


I honestly couldn't care less if it's 7.99 or 8.00, and it has nothing to do with "superiority".

 

[WizardStan]

I've never felt like something was cheaper or was compelled to buy it because it was 1 cent under the next dollar amount.

That you've noticed. Part of the trick is that you don't realize it happens. It is literally impossible to say "that doesn't affect me" because the whole point is that you don't notice it, subtle as it is.

 

[hedwards]

I've never felt like something was cheaper or was compelled to buy it because it was 1 cent under the next dollar amount.

That you've noticed. Part of the trick is that you don't realize it happens. It is literally impossible to say "that doesn't affect me" because the whole point is that you don't notice it, subtle as it is.

Which is a pretty strong indicator that it's BS.

This area of study is sufficiently poorly studied that telling people how or why they do something is a complete load. It's the same quality of research that leads to BS like "repressed memories" and most things that Fraud talked about.

 

[Null]

Fraud

 

[WizardStan]

Which is a pretty strong indicator that it's BS.

Except that, as already pointed out, there have been many studies done which show that it does work, consistently. We may not know the whys or hows but the whats have definitely been demonstrated.

 

[aatu]

Hmm, gonna add some extra thoughts/comments:

People have usually made up their mind if they want something long before they see the price, all the price does is trigger the parts of the brain that decide if you can afford it.

Um, that's basically equal to saying "if we want something, the price will dictate whether we buy it or not". Which is simply common sense. You just added a little bit more wrapping around it.

(or maybe I misunderstood something?)

Also, whilst there are people who like to think they have magic brains which aren't affected by .99 psychology tricks, placebos, etc, really you are just kidding yourself. We all are, well maybe not all of us, if you are autistic then you may not be affected.

The rest of us though, we just tell ourselves we don't fall for such obvious tricks to make ourselves feel superior. Which is why when a "news article" which claims that statistically IE users are dumber than Firefox/Chrome users, we fall for it.

 I don't think it's a case about whether it affects us or not. It's about whether we are smart enough to acknowledge it and similarly counter-measure against it. Like for example, forming an impression of a sleazy car salesman, or systematically rounding every price to the nearest round number. Or in grocery shopping, always checking competing products' kilo/liter/bulk price to know where it stands on the relative scale. After that, the .99 doesn't seem that effective anymore.

And it's not about feeling superior or some sort of elitism, it's just the simple acceptance of the fact that some people are smarter than others and that certain hobbies require a little bit more intelligence than others. Like linux certainly does. Think about your friends who use linux on a daily basis. Would you say they are smarter or dumber than the average person? And I'm not talking about devices using "dumbed-down" Android, btw, I'm talking about devices where people have had to make a deliberate decision to opt to linux, like on desktop computers or laptops.

Furthermore, IE users actually ARE on average less technologically competent than Firefox/Chrome users. Note: I didn't even say "dumber", as there are different types of intelligence. But I also think the people reading tech sites are smart enough to pick out the "average" or "statistically", and know what it entails. They also usually know something about the story behind the browser wars, and thus understand the factors behind the numbers. "Tabloid news" are another thing entirely, and are directed at the masses.

General thoughts:

OP isn't for the masses. The sheer price drives away the casual viewers, especially with the financial crisis above our heads. What's left are people who know what they want, and are willing to pay a premium for it. Ok, there are some rich kids who have more money than brains, that MIGHT buy the Pandora. But most likely they'll end up buying PS-Vita or iPhone, etc.

Then there's the discussion of whether the .99 trick is the most effective one at all. Here's a comment from the same article that was linked in this thread:

"I have noticed in discount stores and the like there is now a tendency to list odd prices like £12.53. or £9.77. The impression it gives is that prices have been cut to the bone, and this seems to have psychological effect on shoppers - making them think they are getting a good deal, even if the price is actually higher than can be found elsewhere." - Chris, Wilts

Which I personally think is actually more effective against the "smarter" people. Though if comparing kilo/litre prices, that trick won't work, either.

Own empiric notions from Finland:

Different chains seem to have different pricing cultures. Some favor odd numbers (like 1.43€), while others prefer the .99 trick. Also one very often-seen method for sales is using round numbers, especially for multiple items, like 4 chocolate bars for a total of 2€. Games and music are almost always with .99, except if they're in the bargain bin, which means 5€ or 10€ round prices. It's also VERY common (possibly even mandatory?) to list the litre/kilo/bulk price, if at all possible. Our smallest coin is 5 cents, so the final check-out price is rounded to the nearest .05 or .00, unless paying with plastic.

 

[hedwards]

Which is a pretty strong indicator that it's BS.

Except that, as already pointed out, there have been many studies done which show that it does work, consistently. We may not know the whys or hows but the whats have definitely been demonstrated.

If you don't know the hows or the whys, then claiming to know the whats is BS.

If you don't know why or how it works then extending it as broadly as they do is just complete BS.

But, that's psychology for you, invent a new term, saddle people with it and don't bother to ever ask people why they're doing something. I mean, because unlike psychologists everybody else lies.

 

[LineOf7s]

What an odd perspective. Just because I may not know exactly why the sky is blue doesn't mean it isn't.