THERE ARE NUMBERS AND WORDS THAT INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR CHEMICALLY We have all seen goods and services priced at $9.99, instead of $10.00. I suspect many of us have wondered if this tactic works. Well, the (sad) fact is, that it does work. What is more, it seems to work in part due to a chemical […]

THERE ARE NUMBERS AND WORDS THAT INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR CHEMICALLY We have all seen goods and services priced at $9.99, instead of $10.00. I suspect many of us have wondered if this tactic works. Well, the (sad) fact is, that it does work. What is more, it seems to work in part due to a chemical reaction (the release of dopamine) in the brain. The human (or at least the alpha) brain reacts to the number 9. The same is true of the word FREE. Consider this experiment: Chocolate eating respondents in a sample were offered two options: A Kisses chocolate for 1c A Lindor chocolate for 15c The vast majority of the sample chose the Lindor option, which is probably not surprising given that neither 1c nor 15c is a lot of money and the fact that the price differential was, indeed, a lot less than is normally the case…