ABSTRACT

Psychological prices are known to impact consumer behaviour and to depend on retailers’ characteristics. Less understood is last digit pricing, especially in the context of retail gasoline stations. We study price endings in the French gasoline market with 11,471 gas stations and 4,775,300 prices for oil companies, supermarkets, and independent retailers during five years. Raw data suggest that 0-ending prices are more expensive. Yet, these last digit effects do not survive careful scrutiny focusing on the individual behaviour/distribution of each gas station. Plus, 9-, 0-, and 5-ending prices are over-represented. Our evidence better informs administrative authorities investigating market irregularities and consumers interested in better deals.

摘要

众所周知，心理价格会影响消费者行为并取决于零售商的特征。不太了解的是最后一位数字定价，尤其是在零售加油站的背景下。我们研究了法国汽油市场 5 年间的 11,471 个加油站和 4,775,300 个石油公司、超市和独立零售商的价格终结点。原始数据表明 0 端价格更贵。然而，这些最后一位数字的影响并不能通过关注每个加油站的个人行为/分布的仔细审查。此外，9-、0- 和 5-结束的价格被过度代表。我们的证据可以更好地为调查市场违规行为的行政当局和对更好交易感兴趣的消费者提供信息。