Culture-Specific Number Symbolism in Restaurant Prices

Most cultures assign additional meanings to numbers, beyond their prevalent (arithmetic) denotation. Such connotations might extend to other settings too, such as price perceptions. Therefore, this study summarizes the (positive and negative) characteristics associated with certain numbers by traditions, religious faith, and cultural heritage. The empirical investigation focuses on restaurant prices in three cultural settings (Chinese, Indian, and Islamic), facilitated by the increasing proportions of multicultural populations and numbers of ethnic restaurants. Consistent with predictions, the number 8 for Chinese, number 7 for Islamic, and numbers 5 and 9 for Indian products are more common in the cross-cultural comparison.