Brief Commentary: Is “4 for $16” Better than “4 for $15.30”? Testing the Replicability of the Price Divisibility Effect

Abstract Although higher prices generally lead to lower demand, research on the price divisibility effect suggests that consumers are sometimes willing to pay more for a multipack if its price is divisible by the number of units it contains. For instance, a seven-pack of shoelaces might be more appealing at the divisible price of $14 than at the lower, but non-divisible, price of $13. The original Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) article documenting this phenomenon presented a total of 15 studies, one of which was preregistered and all of which yielded strong evidence. In this article, we report four preregistered replications of three key studies from the original article. Despite our replications’ considerably larger sample sizes, none replicated the original results, and one yielded a marginally significant effect in the opposite direction. We consider several possible reasons for the discrepancies (e.g., selective reporting, data anomalies, time-related or context-related moderators) and discuss their theoretical and practical implications. Altogether, our findings imply that the price divisibility effect may not exist; if it does exist, it is not as robust or generalizable as originally claimed. Researchers and marketers should exercise caution before attempting to extend or apply research on the price divisibility effect.