SSRN Working Paper

9-Ending is Not Alone: 90 as a Popular and Deceiving Price Ending

A study of 90-ending prices as psychological price points in retail markets.

Research question

How do 90-ending prices function as psychological price endings in retail markets?

Data

The study analyzes more than 107 million retail-price observations from 104 food stores.

Main finding

  • The public abstract reports that 90-ending prices are approximately 54% higher on average than comparable non-90-ending prices.

Interpretation and limits

The reported difference is an association. It should not be interpreted as evidence that the price ending causes higher prices or as proof of consumer deception.

Related topics

  • Retail pricing
  • Psychological price endings
  • Behavioral pricing
  • Price rigidity
  • 90-ending prices

Sources and materials

Recommended citation

Arthur Sandler, Avichai Snir, Haipeng (Allan) Chen, Daniel Levy (2025). 9-Ending is Not Alone: 90 as a Popular and Deceiving Price Ending. SSRN Working Paper. SSRN.

BibTeX
@misc{sandler202590endingprices,
  title = {9-Ending is Not Alone: 90 as a Popular and Deceiving Price Ending},
  author = {Arthur Sandler and Avichai Snir and Haipeng (Allan) Chen and Daniel Levy},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.2139/ssrn.5194983},
  url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5194983},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
AU  - Arthur Sandler
AU  - Avichai Snir
AU  - Haipeng (Allan) Chen
AU  - Daniel Levy
TI  - 9-Ending is Not Alone: 90 as a Popular and Deceiving Price Ending
PY  - 2025
DO  - 10.2139/ssrn.5194983
UR  - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5194983
ER  -

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