Why is a 99p price tag so attractive?

The tactic of shops ending prices with 99p is nothing new, but a study has found it's as effective as ever in getting shoppers to part with their cash. So why is one of the oldest tricks in the retail trade hard to resist?
In terms of familiar retail ruses employed to entice shoppers to part with their money, ending price tags with 99p, rather than rounding up to the full pound, is right up there with buy one, get one free promotions and half-price offers.
But according to a French study the phenomenon still swings a considerable number of shoppers. Researchers found that lowering the price of a pizza from 8.00 euros to 7.99 euros boosted sales by 15%.
For consumers, the saving is minimal and the copper coins they receive as change when paying with a note seem to be more of a hassle than a benefit - in 2005, Britons discarded or stashed away £133m in unwanted coppers, according to Virgin Money.
So if shoppers aren't concerned about saving mere pennies these days, why are they falling for the 99p effect?
Emotional difference
One theory is consumers just aren't up to the maths. Dr Jane Price, lecturer in psychology at the University of Glamorgan, says we "tend to put numbers in categories like 'under £5' or 'under £6' - rather than them representing a value. Shoppers are aware of what is going on, but don't respond to it because they don't think logically about how close numbers are - such as £99.99 and £100."
She thinks shoppers tend to focus on the big denomination - which the pound sign draws the eye to - rather than the smaller denomination: the pence. There is also the emotional incentive - people like to feel they are getting better value for money.
Robert Schindler, professor of marketing at Rutgers Business School in the US, has published several papers on the "99 effect". He expresses it slightly differently, observing that people overweigh the left hand number.
"When a price changes from $30 to $29.99, the change from three to two makes more of a difference than the value of that money could predict," says Mr Schindler. "It is like when a 39-year-old turns 40, the birthday feels like a big deal. Or when 1999 ends and 2000 starts. It feels like an emotional difference."
Discount associations
It's sometimes suggested the "99 effect" was adopted as a control on employee theft - cashiers had to open the till for change, reducing the chances of them pocketing the bill.
But Mr Schindler thinks it has a different origin. It was introduced for sale items, to emphasise the discount.
"I studied adverts in the New York Times from 1850 - where there were no 99 endings - to the 1870s and 1880s where they started to appear. Although department stores were doing it - which would fit with the cash register hypothesis - they were advertising discounts. But for the regular price they would use a round number," he says.
He thinks the retail practice developed from there, to communicate discount or the impression that things are on sale - even when they are not.
But it is a subtle effect, which works when consumers are susceptible to price sensitivities and are making a snap decision, rather than deliberating over big items like cars and houses. And high end brands which exude a classy image tend not to use the tactic.
Pressure on income
Nick Gladding of Verdict Research, is sceptical shoppers are fooled by the "99p effect". However, in these more straitened times, even tiny adjustments in price can be enough to win over hard up consumers.
"We are seeing fuel prices going up and down by 1p - it is a tiny amount of money, but people want to hear about it," he says.
So are there any other numbers that the unsuspecting shopper should be aware of?
A .95 ending is also popular, observed Mr Schindler, although anyone shopping in Asia might be struck by how prices often end in .88. The reason? Eight is an auspicious number in countries such as Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Choosing Liposuction

Beauty of the face and an attractive sculpture of the body always go hand in hand. In the recent years there is a rapidly growing trend for looking young and attractive, especially the people who are working in social environments. There are a number of cosmetic procedures gaining interest in order to prettify ourselves, so is burning of the excess fat from the body. After puberty the fat cells remain constant in number. All that changes is its size that depends on the fat content present in them. A normal ratio of number of fat cells in different parts of the body gives a natural well built feature to the body, whereas deposition of fat cells in abnormal proportions modifies the shape of the body.
As people age, excess fat tends to crop up in the most unsightly places. For some, diet and exercise can help to improve one's overall appearance. Others, however, can diet and exercise unceasingly, while still having certain problem areas that refuse to become more attractive.
Here is where Liposuction enters the picture, and if you are frustrated with problem spots on your body, you may want to evaluate whether this advanced, minimally invasive surgery is right for you.
As the proverb says, beauty is only skin deep, the fat globules that spoil one's charm also lie skin deep. Fortunately, by latest advances in cosmetic procedures, it is possible to remove excess of fat in specific areas that does not respond to controlled diet and exercises. This process is called as Lipolysis. Liposuction is the surgical removal of fat cells through a cannula.
Liposuction was first performed in 1974 and was a great improvement over other surgical body contouring techniques. There have been many advances in liposuction procedures over the last few decades, making it one of the safest and most popular body contouring surgeries in the world.
There are different types of liposuction procedures available, all of which use the cannula to remove unwanted fat. Some of the procedures are: Tumescent liposuction that involves the injection if a large amount of anesthetic into the area being treated; the wet and super-wet techniques are variations of this type of liposuction.
The ultrasonic assisted liposuction (UAL), where sound waves are used to liquefy the fat before it is removed. The procedure LipoSelection that uses the same concept without disturbing the surrounding tissue. The Power assisted liposuction (PAL) that uses a motor-powered cannula, which allows the surgeon to use smaller movements and make the experience more comfortable for the patient.

Learn How to Attract Women and Make Them Want to Be Around You 24/7!

It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, handsome or ugly, skinny or fat... there are certain techniques that you can master, that will make just about any woman find you attractive and can't get enough of your company.
Have you ever notice a guy that just seem to have his way with the ladies... who has all the girls talking about him? You yourself may have even observed this guy and notice there's nothing particularly exceptional about him. He may not even be cute, rich or even ripped; yet he's like the ultimate chick magnet. Often times these guys don't even treat women with respect, yet like a bees hive swarmed with bees... Women just seem to swarm them!
Then what are his secrets that are making chicks find him so irresistible?
This is going to surprise when I tell you this, because you may have thought it needed Albert Einstein to figure this out... A woman is drawn to confidence in a man more than anything else! You must be now thinking it can't be that simple; there has to be more to it than that?
Let's go back to that guy that you don't see anything exceptional about, yet he has all the hot chicks talking. I am sure you have come across this guy before, maybe from high school, college or around your neighborhood. Often times you may make him out to be the biggest jerks around, and wondered... "What the hell do chicks see in him?" Yet he seems to master the art of becoming the ultimate chick magnet!
How does confidence make women find you irresistible?
Every woman loves a guy who seems to be sure of himself, and that is the trait that the guy you considered a jerk has that you might be lacking. A woman wants a guy who will stand up and be counted when necessary. Every woman likes to feel that sense of safety and assurance when they are around a man.
If you learn to satisfy these needs and her other emotional needs... it is much easier for her to start trusting and bonding with you, and start beginning to thinking you are the most unique guy in the world. So the most important key is to use your confidence to appeal to her emotions. The way to a woman's heart is to portray a confidence that will make her feel completely relax around you.
So guys, if you want more women to find you attractive, work on your confidence level! If you have ever wondered why you don't have that much luck with chicks, don't even bother be fooled into thinking it's because you are not cute enough, or because you are not rich or any other myth you have been lead to believe.
The next thing, don't be intimidated when you hear women bragging about the type of guys they want or don't want, because most of the time... they will end up choosing the same type of guy they always say they would never go out with.
Do you want to know why that happens very often? The very guy who she swore was not her type, and who she said she would never go out with... she ends up with, and may even marry. That is the guy whose confidence level she found irresistible!

How to Overcome Fear of Rejection in Dating Women

The real obstacle here is the fear.
As I mentioned, fear of rejection, or imagining rejection when you should be imagining success, leads to walking away.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Ironically, I've found that the best way to overcome my own fear of rejection was to see that it wasn't going to actually happen.
The more times I approached women and started conversations and the more I saw that women usually responded positively, the less I imagined things going wrong.
This led to a positive feedback loop of me wanting to approach more women and have more success.
Here are a few ideas for overcoming your own fear of rejection:
1) Go out to a bar, and watch men approaching women.
Take a Saturday night, and just go out alone. Find a seat at the bar where things are busy, and just watch.
Make sure you visit a place that is really busy, so you can see a lot of people interacting.
Now, pay attention.
You'll begin to pick out the guys who are approaching a lot of women, asking them to dance, buying them drinks, etc. Watch what happens.
You'll be able to see for yourself that most of the time, even if the woman isn't interested, nothing bad happens.
You'll also see that when a guy tries to grab a woman who's walking by, makes a crude sexual comment, or just keeps talking when a woman isn't interested, that the woman's feelings might escalate and she'll respond negatively.
You can watch what works and what doesn't right in front of your own eyes.
This will start to reprogram your mind that women don't usually "reject" men, even in the most intense situations where they're being approached all night.
2) Start small.
If you have to, start by talking to women who are paid to talk to you. Go to a mall (one of my favorites).
Stores in malls hire attractive young women. Walk into every store, and start conversations. Practice making eye contact.
Come up with a few jokes that you can use in any situation ("So, do you own this store? Perfect, then you won't care if I just take some things...")
Ask the salesgirls to smell your new cologne (the one you sprayed on your wrist next door) and give you her opinion.
The more you do this, the more you'll get used to starting conversations with women you don't know, and having comfortable conversations.
3) Choose one default thing for each situation.
It amazes me that guys don't think ahead. They don't plan what they're going to do. As the old saying goes "By failing to plan, you plan to fail".
You really need to figure out a default thing you can do to start a conversation with any woman, anywhere, anytime.
Once you come up with your idea, mentally rehearse it until you could do it in any situation. Then get out and do it.