Counting to a Round Number Precisely: Effect of Symmetric Chunking on Ease of the Process and Counting Confidence
(R2023-117257)

AUTHORS

Sanjeev Tripathi, Indian Institute of Management, Indore, India; Sakshi Aggarwal, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Amritsar

ABSTRACT

In this research, we examine individuals’ confidence in counting the number of objects. Intuitively, individuals should find it easier and be more confident in taking up a shorter counting task. However, we demonstrate that individuals are likely to find counting smaller magnitude non-round numbers more effortful than counting larger round numbers. We demonstrate that this happens as individuals like to make small chunks while counting. While counting round (vs. non-round) number of objects, the process of chunking is perceived to be easier, which positively impacts an individual’s confidence in counting correctly. We also demonstrate a practical implication: in situations where individuals need to count money, they may buy a product marked at a high, round (vs. low, non-round) price. Six experiments examine this proposal using different numbers, objects, and contexts.