Where you should display your price
Scientific research found that we perceive prices as cheaper when they are below products (vs above), increasing sales.
Thomas McKinlay
November 22, 2022
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📝 Intro
Say you’re redesigning your website.
Or putting the final touches to that banner ad.
Where should you write your price?
Here’s what scientific research found is most effective.
P.S.: Where you position your copy also matters. To maximize your results, position rational messages high up and emotional messages low.
Previous insight: The teasing effect (150+ more insights here)
Position the price below the product, not above
Channels: Pricing | Ads | Ecommerce | Retail store | Marketing communicationsFor: B2C. Can be tested for B2BResearch date: September 2020
📈 Recommendation
Position your price below your product (e.g. on your ad, product page, store shelves), not above.
People will perceive the price to be lower and be more likely to buy.
Pro tip: previous research has found that prices positioned to the left also seem smaller. You can test both together or individually to see what works best in your context.
🎓 Findings
Prices shown in low (vs high) positions - compared to the product being sold - seem lower. The effect increases sales without hurting quality perceptions of the product.
For example, as part of a series of six experiments, people:
Perceived the price of a $2.49 dental floss to be 9% cheaper when it was shown on the bottom compared to the top of the image
Sales in a liquor store were 35.2% higher when prices were shown below bottles rather than above
Products seem cheaper - and sell better - when the price is written below them.
🧠 Why it works
The metaphor that “down = less” and “up = more” is ingrained in most of us as a concept. For example, one can be “king of the hill” or “up in heaven”, and hit “rock bottom” or “go down to hell”.
So when we see a price in a low vertical position, we associate “down” with “less” and perceive it as a smaller number than what it is.
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✋ Limitations
Newer research found that this effect seems to work best for low-cost products or cheaper than expected prices. It might not be effective for expensive products.
The study positioned prices relative to the product (e.g. price above or below, product in the middle). It did not investigate the effect of positioning price when the product is not near it (e.g. on a website).
This research studied the position of a single price (e.g. $24), not a regular plus sale price combination (e.g. was $24 now $19). When a price comparison is present, this effect might not be strong enough to hold, since people focus on comparing the original versus the sale price.
🏢 Companies using this
Most stores, physical and online, correctly position prices below their products.
Things become more inconsistent when it comes to displaying prices on ads or non-ecommerce websites.
⚡ Steps to implement
Review where you position your prices on your store shelves, ads, website, packaging, and anywhere else you mention your price.
Move the price to a position below your product whenever possible.
Separate research hints that it might be wise to avoid the bottom right. Try to favor the bottom-left or the bottom-center when you are testing this.
🔍 Study type
Online and lab experiments and field experiments (in two different liquor stores in the US).
📖 Research
The upside of down: Presenting a price in a low or high location influences how consumers evaluate it. Journal of Retailing (September 2020).
🏫 Researchers
Michael J. Barone. University of Louisville
Keith S. Coulter. Clark University
Xingbo Li. Dell Technologies
Remember: This is a scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s how science works). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely.
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