$29 for 70 Items or 70 Items for $29? How Presentation Order Affects Package Perceptions

When consumers consider a package (multi-item) price, which presentation order is more appealing, price first ($29 for 70 items) or item quantity first (70 items for $29)? Will this depend on package size (larger [70 items] vs. smaller [7 items]) or unit price calculation difficulty (higher [$29 for 70 items] vs. lower [$20 for 50 items])? Why? Three studies demonstrate how presentation order affects package evaluations and choice under different levels of package size and unit price calculation difficulty. The first piece of information becomes salient and affects evaluations when packages are larger and unit price calculations are difficult (i.e., price-item [item-price] makes price [items] salient, negatively [positively] affecting evaluations). These effects do not persist with smaller packages or easier unit price calculations. Our findings contribute to several literatures (e.g., numerosity, computational difficulty) but primarily to the order effects literature and have implications for measurement and practice (e.g., pricing).