216 /304
消費者情緒在九尾數定價效果的影響
216
2. Literature Review
2.1 Inconsistent Findings on the Nine-Ending Price Effect
Nine-ending pricing involves using number nines on the right-hand side of prices.
Previous studies have shown that prices that ended in nines produced higher sales than
prices that were slightly higher or slightly lower due to the special psychological effects
(Schindler and Kibarian, 1996; Coulter, 2001; Anderson and Simester, 2003; Bizer and
Schindler, 2005; Bray and Harris, 2006; Thomas and Morwitz, 2005). The mechanisms of
level effects and image effects have been proposed to explain the influence of nine-ending
prices (Stiving and Winer, 1997; Schindler and Kirby, 1997).
Level effects refer to potential biases in consumers' price perception and price
processing, resulting in an underestimation of the value of a price (Baumgartner and
Steiner, 2007). Even though the widespread use of setting prices ending in the digit 9,
evidence of the effects of nine-ending prices is mixed. Monroe and Lee (1999) argued that
consumer responses are not affected by a slight price change. Gedenk and Sattler (1999)
conducted a review of these studies and concluded there is significant ambiguity regarding
the effects of nine-ending prices. Although some studies have suggested nine-ending
prices have a positive effect and therefore support the level and/or price image
explanations, others have not found prices ending in nine have any significant effects, and
a few have even found they have a negative effect (Baumgartner and Steiner, 2007).
Baumgartner and Steiner (2007) then indicated that there is strong heterogeneity of
consumers in their responses to odd and even prices. Some consumers may strongly prefer
9-ending prices, whereas other consumers may favor zero-ending prices.
In sum, the level effect may explain the degree of influence of nine-ending prices
only, but does not explain why some studies show opposite results on purchase intentions.
The image effects, assuming that the right most digits do have meaning for the customer,
then clarify the second possible influence of prices ending in nine. There are two types of
image effect: the price image effect and the quality image effect. The price image effect
involves the use of nine-ending prices to communicate to consumers that the product is
low-priced or on sale, and signals an opportunity to buy the product for less (Schindler,
2006). Research shows that nine-ending prices, especially those ending in 99,
communicate a low-price image to consumers (Baumgartner and Steiner, 2007; Schindler
and Kibarian, 1996). In contrast, the quality image effect involves the perception of
consumers that nine-ending prices are a signal of inferior quality, whereas zero-ending
prices may indicate superior product quality (Baumgartner and Steiner, 2007; Stiving,