Magnitude Representation of numbers

 

Magnitude Representation is a grand name for one of my favourite bits of numbers psychology.

When it is represented with more characters, we process a number as larger.

I don't only mean only 3,000,000 vs. 3,000. These are different values.

I mean when the same value is represented differently, like 3,000.00 vs. 3k

You can see the difference in this bank's ad campaign.

On the left, how they displayed the cashback offer in year one.

On the right, the same promo in year two, but see how the $3,000 seems more impressive?

The lesson:

• When giving money away, make the number seem longer. Add commas and decimals.
• When charging people, see whether you can truncate the number instead.

My Just Do This members already know about this and many other pricing techniques. Perhaps you'd like to join us? 

 

Ref: Keith S. Coulter, Pilsik Choi, Kent B. Monroe, Comma N' cents in pricing: The effects of auditory representation encoding on price magnitude perceptions, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Volume 22, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 395-407, ISSN 1057-7408, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.005.