Three beer prices on a menu. $10 is at the top, then $9, then $8
Sort Prices From High to Low
Price Design

Sort Prices From High to Low

Initial prices become a baseline for comparison, so the subsequent prices seem cheaper.

How should you arrange products?

Over an 8-week span, researchers alternated the sequence of beer prices on a menu. Revenue was highest with high-to-low sorting (Suk et al., 2012).

Two beer menus. One sorts items from lowest price to highest price, while the other shows the highest to lowest price. The highest to lowest prices results in a higher average sale ($6.02 compared to $5.78).

Why It Works

  • Higher Reference Price. Customers who see a $9 beer evaluate other beers against this price.
With low to high prices, the first three options are $4, so the reference price is $4. With high to low prices, the first four options are $10, $9, $8, so the reference price is around $9.
  • Loss Aversion. Customers who see a $4 beer then $5 beer are gradually losing the ability to pay a lower price. They feel pressured to pounce on a cheaper beer while they're still cheap. But a decreasing sequence has the reverse effect: Customers who see a $5 beer then $4 beer are losing quality, so they pounce on a quality option.

Caveats

  • Left to Right. Numbers get larger as they move from left to right, so high-to-low sorting in horizontal layouts can feel manipulative. Instead, try distinguishing a higher price (e.g., different color) so that customers view this expensive option first, triggering the same effect as sorting.

  • Suk, K., Lee, J., & Lichtenstein, D. R. (2012). The influence of price presentation order on consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(5), 708-717.

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