Data Sheet 1_Psychological effects of horizontal price display: how left-right location shapes reference price and perceived quality.docx

This study examines the impact of display locations of regular and sale prices on reference price estimation, drawing on anchoring and adjustment theory and the left-to-right directionality in reading habits. It focuses on how the spatial positioning of the regular price relative to the discount price affects perceived quality and subsequently shapes reference price judgments. Conducted across both offline and online settings using varied product stimuli, three laboratory studies using comparative price advertisements that presented both prices on the same page consistently demonstrate that placing the regular price to the left of the discount price results in higher reference price estimations. The findings also confirmed that perceived product quality mediates the proposed effect. This research offers new insights into how the spatial placement of pricing information significantly affects consumer perception and decision-making, contributing to consumer psychology.

本研究基于锚定与调整理论（anchoring and adjustment theory）以及阅读习惯的左到右方向性特征，探讨常规售价与促销售价的展示位置对参考价格估计（reference price estimation）的影响。本研究聚焦于：相较于折扣售价，常规售价的空间位置如何影响消费者感知质量，并进而塑造参考价格判断。本研究采用多样化产品刺激物，在线下与线上场景中开展了三项实验室研究，所有研究均使用同一页面同时展示两种价格的对比价格广告，结果一致表明：将常规售价置于折扣售价左侧，会带来更高的参考价格估计值。研究结果同时证实，产品感知质量在该效应中发挥了中介作用。本研究揭示了定价信息的空间布局如何显著影响消费者感知与决策的全新视角，为消费者心理学领域贡献了新的研究成果。