The effects of congruent/incongruent magnitude representation on explicit and implicit knowledge of prices

Research evidence has demonstrated that consumers often may rely on non‐conscious, automatic processing of price information when choosing among brands. One way in which numerical stimuli (and hence prices) may be non‐consciously and automatically represented in memory is in terms of magnitude representations. If prices are automatically mapped on to the same underlying magnitude code that sustains the processing of physical stimuli, then interference may ensue if the magnitude representation associated with a price differs from the magnitude representation associated with some other aspect of the brand. This study examines the effects of congruent/incongruent magnitude representation on how a price is perceived, and on the likelihood of purchase. Results indicate that a “congruent” magnitude representation may result in more favorable implicit price perceptions and increase the likelihood of choice.