Unit Pricing Increases Price Sensitivity Even When Products are of Identical Size

• Unit pricing affects consumer choice even when product options have identical sizes.
• The presence of unit prices activates a motivation to purchase cheaper options.
• The motivational effect operates independently of the cognitive ease effect.
• The motivational effect varies with price consciousness.
• Unit pricing is shown to also affect consumer evaluations of price discounts.

That displaying unit prices leads consumers to choose lower unit priced product options is well established. However, whether this effect occurs persistently across purchase conditions is unclear, and if so, why? This paper proposes that the presence of unit prices increases the salience of price in decision making, making consumers more price-sensitive, which in turn activates a greater motivation to select cheaper products. Findings from three experiments show that this motivational effect persists even when unit prices offer little cognitive benefit, such as when product options have identical sizes. Results also show that the motivational effect of unit pricing operates independently of the cognitive effect, and that an individual's price consciousness moderates the motivational effect. The paper demonstrates that unit pricing increases consumer price sensitivity in the context of price discounts, extending the generalizability of the unit pricing effect.

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