Why does $2.99 feel cheaper than $3.00
Learning & Education · English · Portrait · 30 sec · whiteboard animation
This learning & education whiteboard animation was made with AutoScribble — the script was written, every scene hand-drawn and the narration recorded automatically in about 10 minutes. You can make one like it from a single sentence.
Transcript
Why does $2.99 feel cheaper than $3.00?
It's only one cent less.
But that tiny difference can change how we perceive the price.
When the leftmost digit changes from 3 to 2, the price suddenly crosses into a lower numerical range.
Our brains can give disproportionate weight to that leftmost digit when judging prices.
Psychologists call this the left-digit effect.
So $2.99 and $3.00 are almost identical mathematically...
but they don't always feel identical psychologically.