The effects of digit‐direction on eye movement bias and price‐rounding behavior

Purpose – This paper aims to suggest that individuals are either consciously or non‐consciously aware of the left‐right (forward/backward) orientation of numeric digits. The purpose of the studies is to demonstrate that the “directionality” (left‐ or right‐facing nature) of numerals, and the resultant eye movement bias that this directionality creates may affect the degree to which consumers attend to, or focus upon, the various digits in a price. The degree of attention paid to these digits will, in turn, impact consumers' price‐encoding strategies. It is argued that the use of left (right)‐facing digits may increase (decrease) the likelihood that consumers will employ a truncation (i.e. rounding down) price‐encoding strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper contains two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to one of four ads containing regular and sale prices. The prices were placed at opposite ends of the Mueller‐Lyer illusion, with the prices substituting for the “extraneous stimuli” (i.e. inward‐ or outward‐facing wings) in the illusion. In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed to one of six ads containing a sale price only. Findings – In Experiment 1, digit “directionality” was found to cause eye movement bias, which resulted in distorted physical distance perceptions. In Experiment 2, digit directionality was found to impact price‐rounding behavior. Research limitations/implications – It is suggested that perceived digit‐directionality creates eye movement bias, and that eye movement bias may impact the manner in which price digits are recalled and encoded. Eye movement bias can be inferred from the results of Experiment 1, but it is not directly measured. It is suggested that future research efforts might employ eye‐tracking measures to more directly confirm that this perceptual bias does indeed occur. Practical implications – The findings have important implications for the marketing practitioner, because they demonstrate that the use of particular digit combinations can result in a price being perceived as greater or less than its actual value. Originality/value – In presenting the concept of “digit‐directionality”, the paper offers an entirely new rubric in which to examine matters pertaining to numerical cognition.