How consumers evaluated precise, just-below, and round prices: evidence from two high-powered, preregistered experiments

Round, just-below (e.g., 9.99), and precise (e.g., 9.87) prices are widespread in consumer markets, yet evidence on their psychological effects remains inconclusive, at times even contradictory, and heavily concentrated on the contrast between just-below and round prices. Recent work further shows that these price endings differ systematically in their prevalence across countries, underscoring the need to understand the consumer-level mechanisms that may make them effective in the first place. Across two preregistered, high-powered experiments (total N  = 729), we therefore examined how round, just-below, and precise prices shape purchase intentions, price image, quality image, and price recall. Across studies, precise prices produced the most favorable price image and were most likely to be underestimated in recall, followed by just-below prices and then round prices. By contrast, price endings did not reliably affect quality image or purchase intentions. Exploratory mediation analyses suggest that the relative advantage of precise prices operates through price image rather than quality image or recall-based underestimation. These findings identify behavioral foundations of price-ending effects at the level of individual consumer judgment and complement recent macro-level evidence on cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of round, just-below, and precise prices.