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PRICE ENDINGS IN ASIA

Retail prices ending in 9 are common in the USA. Theories advanced to explain this phenomenon include perceived gain, consumer underestimation, and common practice. Previous research has used prices in printed media, primarily newspapers, as evidence. This research used the web in place of print media. First the USA research that used printed media was replicated, demonstrating the convergence of the print and web media as research tools. Then the research was extended to five Asian countries. The paper makes contributions to both method and theory. The web method improved the sampling of prices, provided prices less contaminated by sales, and allowed international research to be conducted easily and with standard methods in each country. The theoretical contribution was the addition of a new explanation for price endings, namely cultural preference. In Asia 8 is deemed lucky by several cultures, and was more frequently used than the 9 ending predicted by consumer behavior theories. This result also demonstrates that the results of consumer research undertaken in the USA cannot be treated as universally applicable.