INTRODUCTION
Whether you’re shopping for the holidays or for everyday items, you see a lot of price tags. While consumers probably don’t stop to consider the pennies on the price tags but a lot of businesses had been doing this practice called the ‘left digit effect’ on psychology of pricing. For example, in the market today, most goods are ending in Php 0.99 or in Php 99.00 regardless of its tenths or hundredths digit. This is supposed to suggest that the consumers are getting the best possible price or the item has been marked down. This doesn’t say that consumers are fooled, but although they can always round it off to the nearest tenths or hundredths, for some reason the consumers are compelled to buy thinking this could be a bargain even if they’re conscious of the said tactic. Though most businesses apply the left digit effect to engage more consumers to buy their products, some don’t utilize this strategy and the prices of the goods end in zeroes. In places like expensive restaurants or jewelry stores, products are often rounded off in the nearest hundreds or thousands because they portray to the consumers luxury and class. The message is clear that they are at the wrong place if they expect a change from the said store.

We are surrounded by numbers every day and these numbers affect our mind. And every day we make decisions whether we are conscious of it or not. This research will explore what is called the ‘left digit effect’ and discover what influences people when making their buying decision and how this tendency might bias their decision making.