Original title: The Role of Psychological Pricing Strategy in Customer Purchasing Behavior
Asst. Prof. Dr. Sawsan Ibrahim Rajab, Mohammed Satwan Amhammed · September 2026
Store managers often want to boost sales and attract more shoppers, but the leaders of Al-Salam chain stores in Kirkuk Governorate did not realize how pricing tactics influence shoppers. To investigate this issue, researchers studied psychological pricing. This strategy uses visual and numerical cues to shape how shoppers think and feel about a cost. The team looked at fractional pricing, decimal points or price intervals, and the size and color of the price line. They gathered survey responses from shoppers to test how these price features guide buyer actions. They examined customer reactions across three areas: cognitive response, which is how people mentally process information; emotional response, or how they feel; and the actual purchase. The study proved that these pricing tactics strongly connect to and influence customer purchasing behavior at both the specific micro level and the overall macro level.
Imagine you have a favorite coffee shop. One day you notice the medium coffee is tagged $3.00, but the large is $3.99 — almost the same price. You might grab the large feeling like a bargain. In reality, it's a small price trick aimed at your emotions. In this paper, fractional pricing and other subtle cues like price line size work similarly to nudge customers toward a purchase without them noticing.
Store managers often overlook how tiny price tricks affect shoppers. This study shows that prices ending in 99 or the way the price is written can steer customers' thoughts and feelings. Understanding this helps businesses design pricing that boosts sales without discounts.
The study is limited to one store chain in one governorate, so the findings may not generalize. The survey captures correlation, not causation. Customer self-reports may also differ from actual behavior.
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The Role of Psychological Pricing Strategy in Customer Purchasing Behavior — Asst. Prof. Dr. Sawsan Ibrahim Rajab, Mohammed Satwan Amhammed — F1000Research — doi:10.12688/f1000research.177273.2
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.