Penny-wise pound-fooling: a replication with extension of the left-digit effect to the context of shrinkflation

Bart Claus () and Mario Pandelaere ()
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Bart Claus: IESEG School of Management
Mario Pandelaere: Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech

Marketing Letters, 2025, vol. 36, issue 2, No 10, 303-312

Abstract: Abstract (Thomas and Morwitz Journal of Consumer Research, 32(1), 54–64, 2005) demonstrated the left-digit effect (LDE): nine-ending prices influence our perception of price magnitude, but only if they trigger a change of the leftmost digit. We present a replication and extension of the left-digit effect for content reductions in the context of shrinkflation or downsizing—manufacturers responding to inflation-driven increases of unit costs by reducing size, content, or quantity of an offer without proportionally decreasing the price. We also include a replication attempt of (Lin and Wang Marketing Letters, 28, 99–112, 2017) who find that the LDE is weaker for larger quantities. As a theoretical extension, we investigate a quantity property specific to product content. Content quantities are often anchored on fractions of higher order quantities (e.g., 750 ml as 3/4, 500 ml as 1/2, or 250 ml as 1/4 of a liter). We assess whether these standardized content quantities act as evaluation anchors for downsizing.

Keywords: Left-digit effect; Just-below pricing; Nine-endings; Shrinkflation; Downsizing; Product content (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-024-09758-y

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