Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce
IntroductionThe consumer literature distinguishes between three different price endings: round (e.g., $10.00), just-below (e.g., $9.99), and precise (e.g., $9.87) prices. Extant research suggests that these prices can differ markedly in their prevalence between countries. Despite some empirical indi...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Economics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frbhe.2025.1296207/full |
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| author | Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Eve Sarah Troll Meikel Soliman David D. Loschelder |
| author_facet | Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Eve Sarah Troll Meikel Soliman David D. Loschelder |
| author_sort | Alfio Ventura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe consumer literature distinguishes between three different price endings: round (e.g., $10.00), just-below (e.g., $9.99), and precise (e.g., $9.87) prices. Extant research suggests that these prices can differ markedly in their prevalence between countries. Despite some empirical indication, the link between cultural characteristics and price-ending prevalence has yet to be quantified systematically; we know surprisingly little about why sellers and retailers prefer certain price endings over others.MethodIn the present, pre-registered research (OSF project1), we build on Hofstede's cultural model (1984) to investigate how the three cultural dimensions individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation can explain whether certain price endings are more (vs. less) prevalent. Using a web scraping approach, we extracted 9,200 prices from 23 different countries from an international online marketplace.ResultsOur results indicate that in countries (1) with higher individualism scores round and precise prices are more prevalent while just-below prices are less prevalent. (2) Higher uncertainty avoidance scores predict a higher prevalence of just-below prices and a lower prevalence of precise prices. Finally, (3) a higher long-term orientation predicts a higher prevalence of round prices and lower prevalence of just-below prices.DiscussionAltogether, our results suggest that Hofstede's cultural dimensions are useful in predicting the prevalence of price endings. The present research disentangles divergent empirical findings on price prevalence and furthers our knowledge on the link between cultural dimensions and price-ending practices. Taking a cultural perspective to understand price-ending prevalence is a fruitful avenue for future research and theorizing, as well as organizations, in particular online marketplaces. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1a295362b1ab44f5a2c5daf85c9ea5e1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2813-5296 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-1a295362b1ab44f5a2c5daf85c9ea5e12025-08-20T02:57:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Economics2813-52962025-03-01410.3389/frbhe.2025.12962071296207Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerceAlfio Ventura0Alfio Ventura1Alfio Ventura2Eve Sarah Troll3Meikel Soliman4David D. Loschelder5Institute of Management and Organisation, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, GermanyResearch Group Human Understanding of Algorithms and Machines, Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyInstitute of Management and Organisation, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, GermanyInstitute of Management and Organisation, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, GermanyInstitute of Management and Organisation, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, GermanyIntroductionThe consumer literature distinguishes between three different price endings: round (e.g., $10.00), just-below (e.g., $9.99), and precise (e.g., $9.87) prices. Extant research suggests that these prices can differ markedly in their prevalence between countries. Despite some empirical indication, the link between cultural characteristics and price-ending prevalence has yet to be quantified systematically; we know surprisingly little about why sellers and retailers prefer certain price endings over others.MethodIn the present, pre-registered research (OSF project1), we build on Hofstede's cultural model (1984) to investigate how the three cultural dimensions individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation can explain whether certain price endings are more (vs. less) prevalent. Using a web scraping approach, we extracted 9,200 prices from 23 different countries from an international online marketplace.ResultsOur results indicate that in countries (1) with higher individualism scores round and precise prices are more prevalent while just-below prices are less prevalent. (2) Higher uncertainty avoidance scores predict a higher prevalence of just-below prices and a lower prevalence of precise prices. Finally, (3) a higher long-term orientation predicts a higher prevalence of round prices and lower prevalence of just-below prices.DiscussionAltogether, our results suggest that Hofstede's cultural dimensions are useful in predicting the prevalence of price endings. The present research disentangles divergent empirical findings on price prevalence and furthers our knowledge on the link between cultural dimensions and price-ending practices. Taking a cultural perspective to understand price-ending prevalence is a fruitful avenue for future research and theorizing, as well as organizations, in particular online marketplaces.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frbhe.2025.1296207/fullcultural differencesjust-below priceround priceprecise priceweb scrapingprice endings |
| spellingShingle | Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Alfio Ventura Eve Sarah Troll Meikel Soliman David D. Loschelder Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce Frontiers in Behavioral Economics cultural differences just-below price round price precise price web scraping price endings |
| title | Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce |
| title_full | Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce |
| title_fullStr | Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce |
| title_full_unstemmed | Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce |
| title_short | Round, just-below, or precise prices? Cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in E-commerce |
| title_sort | round just below or precise prices cultural differences in the prevalence of price endings in e commerce |
| topic | cultural differences just-below price round price precise price web scraping price endings |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frbhe.2025.1296207/full |
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