Ever notice how at fancy restaurants there are no dollar signs or decimals on the prices? Just a plain number 7 (or 12 or 25) at the end of the line?

Aside from going for typographic simplicty some new research indicates it may be an effective way to get people to spend more. Supposedly, removing the dollar sign and standard two-decimal-places formatting helps remove the association with money spent.

While the study refers to restaurants, the same thinking might apply to craft shows. Ditching the dollar sign (or currency symbol) may subconciously lead people into buying more. Or maybe it’s just the latest pop psychology hooey. What do you think?

[via The Consumerist]