Why one of these price tags appeals to women and the other to men

And all the other sneaky pricing tricks shops use to make you splash out

POP into a store or restaurant or go shopping online and you are entering enemy territory. Be it the lighting, music or layout, everything is designed with only one thing in mind — to make you spend more.

And the battle to prise those pennies from your purse is even reflected in the price tag.

Because numbers really matter. So while there may be only a penny separating £9.99 from £10, in the psychology of sealing a sale there is a world of difference.

This year, a scientific study showed that ‘round’ numbers, such as £10, are seen as having feminine qualities, while ‘precise’ figures, such as £9.99, are seen as macho, male numbers.

In an experiment, 121 adults were split into two groups and asked to read the birth notice of a baby with the unisex name of Chris, then guess whether the infant was male or female.

Among those told that the baby was born at 5am, weighed 8lb and measured 21in, around half thought it was a girl.

But when the figures were replaced with 5.01am, 7lb 6.5oz and 20.75in, a total of 74 per cent plumped for a boy.

In a second experiment, people were shown a mixture of numbers, some ‘round’ and others with decimal points, and asked to imagine they had human traits.

They rated them on a scale from one, for very feminine, to seven, for very male. Round figures averaged a score of 3.8, while precise ones averaged 4.4.

In retail terms, this means that slightly tweaking the price could give a product added appeal, depending on whether the target buyer is male or female. ‘ Adding a penny to a £9.99 price tag could actually increase demand among women shoppers,’ explains Dr Amna Khan, senior lecturer in consumer behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University.

But that is far from the only card up the retailer’s sleeve. Here, we lift the lid on the psychological pricing tricks they play ... IT HAS been suggested that the ‘99p effect’ was originally introduced to save money — but not in the way you might think. Customers purchasing an item at a price that ends with 99p rarely pay with the exact money. For that reason, cashiers have to open the till for change, so recording the sale and reducing the chances of them pocketing the cash. But while reducing employee theft may have been the original rationale for 99p prices, it has since become a way of suggesting that an item is a ‘bargain’. It has been used in this way for so long that people see it as subconscious shorthand for getting a good deal. It is also thought that something called the ‘ left digit effect’ comes into play. This suggests that consumers can’t be bothered to read all the way to the end of a price, so £ 9.99 reads as ‘9- something pounds’ rather than a figure just one penny shy of £10. ‘It’s a strategy most commonly employed in the food and groceries sector, and the use of it in a fashion context automatically lets consumers associate a retailer with being “cheaper” or offering better value,’ says Nivindya Sharma, fashion analyst at Verdict Retail.

‘Value retailers like New Look and H&M often use prices like £24.99 and £2.99 to “trick” their shoppers into thinking they’re getting a bargain.’

Budget stores Mid-market

AT THE mid and top end of the High Street fashion market you are less likely to see precise numbers ending in ‘99’.

Companies such as M&S prefer whole numbers, which are seen as more ‘friendly’, so they sell slim boot- cut jeans for £15 and an embroidered shift dress for £45. Where prices are not exact, they are more likely to end in 50p rather than fractions of a pound.

‘M&S does this because it is a traditional company which prides itself on putting the customer at the centre of the business, so the “friendliness” of these numbers comes into play,’ says Sharma. ‘They don’t want to complicate their customers’ purchasing journey.’

The same applies to premium retailers such as Whistles, COS and Ted Baker, which rarely use any decimal points in their prices.

‘To do so would go against their whole premium proposition,’ Sharma adds. ‘It’s the “if you’re rich, why care about the pennies” psychology. even in their sales, the prices are still rounded.’ IT WOULD be wrong to think that at the very top end of the market no thought is given to pricing.

Because while designer labels can charge thousands of pounds for an item, they also rely on psychology to reach a wider market.

They have identified a pricing ‘ sweet spot’ that balances exclusivity with affordability — the so-called ‘£300 club’.

These are long- anticipated purchases that can be just about rationalised as investments or well-deserved treats — something that could never be said of, say, a £2,500 classic Chanel handbag.

While £300 isn’t cheap, there are sufficient takers for items at this price to have greatly boosted the sales of companies such as Michael Kors and Tory Burch, which have grown rapidly in the past two years by tapping into this lower-entry pricing zone.

‘We are not programmed to make conscious decisions about prices in the designer and luxury sector because it’s more about emotion than need,’ explains Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a lecturer in consumer psychology at London Metropolitan University.

He adds that £300 for an item is not out of reach for many people. Shoppers at the entry level of designer brands believe these buys can ‘differentiate them from those who shop on the High Street’.

Anything above £375, he says, is too close to £400, which is ‘ an expensive, less accessible figure... more of a luxury.’ EVER wondered why the restaurant menu seems to lack a ‘£’ sign next to the price? For example, why, at a restaurant in London’s Mayfair is smoked eel with black pudding hash and apple listed as costing ‘17’ rather than ‘£17’? The reason is that any reference to currency is likely to remind diners of the ‘ pain’ associated with spending money.

According to Gregg Rapp, a renowned ‘menu engineer’ responsible for the design and layout of menus, removing the pound sign ‘softens the prices’ and stops customers ordering merely on the basis of price, rather than making a choice based on ingredients or what food they actually fancy.

‘A pound sign reminds people of money,’ says Rapp. ‘You see a hundred items and a hundred pound signs, it feels more expensive.’

This theory was backed up in a 2009 study by Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research, which found that people eating lunch at a New York restaurant who were presented with a menu that lacked dollar signs spent more than those who received a menu with them.

For the same reason, some restaurants will write out the prices of food on offer using words, not numbers — ie, ‘seventeen pounds’ instead of ‘£17’.

‘When we spell out the price it takes a few more moments to comprehend, so it helps to soften the higher price,’ adds Rapp. ‘If you write it out in italics, it is even harder to read and takes a moment longer still.’

Small bistros and family-run restaurants are also advised not to use prices such as £5.99.

‘It says to the guest: “We are tricking you, as it’s only one penny off’,” says Rapp.

Instead, expect to see the item listed at a more friendly £5.95 or, in high-end restaurants, £6.00 — the two zeros adding a ‘halo of quality’ to the menu item.

Designer brands Restaurants Online

AT ONLINE giants such as Amazon, the prices often appear to break all the rules. This is because multiple vendors are competing with one another on price, and need to make theirs stand out.

So instead of round numbers or even prices ending in ‘ 99p’, seemingly random decimals appear — £19.27, say, or £6.73.

This is known as ‘ off- board’ pricing, designed to grab the shopper’s attention in a crowded field.

‘Psychologically the price does feel cheaper, but it is also subconsciously more complex,’ says Karl McKeever, of the retail agency Visual Thinking.

‘It isn’t so easy to work out the relative value the goods offer when the pricing can’t be easily calculated in your head.’

So the consumer sees it and clicks on it before they can really calculate whether the offer is a good one, or if additional postage costs make it less of a bargain.