A pricing strategy based on the theory that consumers perceive just-below prices (prices that are slightly below a round number, such as $19.99) as being lower than they actually are. 

Psychological Pricing

Oil company advertising has led many consumers to conclude that such premium fuel
will make their car start more easily, get better mileage, and last longer. Oil industry officials acknowledge, however, that only vehicles with high-performance engines (less than ten percent of the market) actually benefit from high-octane fuel. The Federal Trade Commission has been challenging this practice for some time, but consumers still continue to purchase high-octane fuel at levels far above what is beneficial for most vehicles.

High Octane Fuel

- Atmospheric Factors
- Product Placement
- Price Manipulation

Supermarkets

- Solicitation of physicians
- Direct-to-consumer marketing

Pharmaceutical Advertising

- Psychological Pricing
- High Octane Fuel
- Supermarkets
- Pharmaceutical Advertising

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

How companies exploit the cognitive limitations of consumers.

Market Manipulation

Hanson, Jon D. and Kysar, Douglas A., Taking Behavioralism Seriously: The Problem of Market Manipulation (1999). New York University Law Review, Vol. 74, p. 632, 1999, Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 08-54, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1288182

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