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臺大管理論叢
第
26
卷第
2
期
83
3. Methodology
To understand the boundary conditions of the nine-ending price effect, four studies have
been conducted on the basis of prior studies, including experimental designs, procedure and
the variable manipulations. First, Study 1 focused on how SE and JE modes influenced the
nine-ending effect. By rating the price perception, participants showed the difference in price
perception between nine-ending and zero-ending prices in SE and JE modes. To generalize
the findings, Study 2 manipulated three different kinds of evaluation modes (SE, JE and SQE
modes) and measured the perception of practical purchases of nine-ending and zero-ending
priced items as manipulated by Bizer and Schindler (2005) to simulate the product
purchasing instead of a price-perceived judgment (Study 1). Based on level effect, Study 3
examined the other kind of the nine-ending pricing effect with the same and different left-
hand digits to strengthen our findings. Finally, to provide evidence in support of the
inference of heuristic-systematic dual-process model, task complexity has been manipulated
to demonstrate the possible theoretical link and to examine an inverted U-shape relationship
of task complexity on nine-ending pricing effects as Keller and Staelin (1987) showed.
3.1 Study 1
The aim of Study 1 was to examine whether the difference in magnitude perception
between nine-ending and zero-ending prices is greater in the SE condition, in which the nine-
ending pricing effect is expected to manifest, than in the JE condition, in which the nine-
ending pricing effect is expected to diminish. If the difference in magnitude perception is
greater in the SE condition, then H1 is supported.
3.1.1 Method
One hundred and forty-six undergraduate students, seventy-two males and seventy-four
females, were recruited from a large southern university. This study utilized a one-factor,
three-level (separate nine ending, separate zero ending, and joint nine ending and zero
ending) design. The stimuli for this study were nail clippers, batteries, and baseball caps. The
particular products were chosen for one reason: they are commonly seen yet rarely
purchased. Hence, it was expected that the participants would be familiar with the products
but not their prices, which would prevent people’ judgment from being influenced by their
subjective selling price. There were two items within each product category, each with
different fictional brand names (S and K) and ending prices (nine- and zero-ending one
dollar higher). The prices of the S-branded nail clippers, battery, and baseball cap were