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1.99 美元看起来比 2 美元便宜不少，这是因为人们习惯盯着最左边的数字，心理学上称为“左位数偏差”（left-digit bias）。芝加哥大学 10 月 23 日发布的新闻稿介绍了芝加哥大学布斯商学院的 Andreas Kraft 与得克萨斯大学的 Raghunath Rao 的研究：他们分析了 2014–2021 年提交给得州机动车管理部门的全部二手车过户记录（约占同期全美车辆交易的 10%），发现不细看里程表的买家会把 49,800 英里的车当成“4 万多英里”的车，因而高估它的价值。这类买家更常在经销商处购车，经销商在整数里程关口以下的车上平均利润高出近 11%，每辆多赚约 46–168 美元；在竞争最激烈的市场，经销商顾客的“不留意”程度反而更高。研究者认为，单靠把信息印得更醒目未必有用。文章按“现象—原因—影响”展开，阅读时可留意 because、while、as a result 如何连接因果与对比，以及 may、suggests 如何为结论设定边界。

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Is $1.99 really much cheaper than $2? Most people know it is not, yet shops keep using such prices because our eyes tend to stop at the first number. Psychologists call this habit left-digit bias. A new study of the used-car market, reported by the University of Chicago on October 23, suggests that this small habit can cost buyers real money, and that car dealers profit from it.

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1.99 美元真的比 2 美元便宜很多吗？大多数人都知道并非如此，但商店仍在使用这样的价格，因为我们的目光往往停在第一个数字上。心理学家把这种习惯称为“左位数偏差”。芝加哥大学 10 月 23 日报道的一项二手车市场新研究表明，这个小习惯可能让买家损失真金白银，而汽车经销商则从中获利。

The study was carried out by Andreas Kraft of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Raghunath Rao of the University of Texas. They examined prices and odometer readings, which show how far a car has been driven, in every used-car title record sent to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles between 2014 and 2021. This covered about 10% of all vehicle sales in the United States during that period.

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这项研究由芝加哥大学布斯商学院的 Andreas Kraft 和得克萨斯大学的 Raghunath Rao 完成。他们考察了 2014 年至 2021 年间提交给得克萨斯州机动车管理部门的每一份二手车产权记录中的价格和里程表读数——里程表读数显示一辆车已经行驶了多远。这些记录约占同期美国全部车辆交易的 10%。

The problem appears near round numbers. A buyer who does not look closely may see a car with 49,800 miles and think of it as a “40,000-mile car”, even though it is almost the same as one with 50,000 miles. As a result, the car seems newer and worth more than it is.

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问题出现在整数附近。一个不仔细看的买家可能看到一辆行驶了 49,800 英里的车，就把它当成“4 万多英里的车”，尽管它与一辆行驶了 5 万英里的车几乎一样。结果，这辆车显得更新，也显得比实际更值钱。

According to the researchers, such buyers are more likely to shop at dealerships, while careful buyers notice the higher dealer prices and buy from private sellers instead. Dealership customers were about twice as inattentive to exact mileage as people who bought privately. Dealers, who are generally more aware of the bias, took advantage of this. Across 14 cutoffs from 10,000 to 140,000 miles, their average profit on cars 1,000 miles below a round number was nearly 11% higher than on cars 1,000 miles above it. The extra profit ranged from about $46 to $168 per car.

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研究者表示，这类买家更可能去经销商处购车，而细心的买家会注意到经销商价格更高，转而从私人卖家那里购买。经销商的顾客对确切里程的不留意程度约为私下购车者的两倍。经销商通常更了解这种偏差，并加以利用。在 1 万到 14 万英里之间的 14 个整数关口上，经销商在比整数少 1,000 英里的车上获得的平均利润，比多 1,000 英里的车高出近 11%。每辆车的额外利润约为 46 美元到 168 美元不等。

Competition between sellers should normally push prices down. But the study found the opposite here. In the most competitive markets, inattention among dealership customers was 40% higher than in the least competitive ones. The researchers believe careful and careless buyers form two separate markets, so more competition may leave consumers worse off overall.

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卖家之间的竞争通常应当压低价格。但这项研究在这里发现了相反的情况。在竞争最激烈的市场中，经销商顾客的不留意程度比竞争最弱的市场高出 40%。研究者认为，细心和粗心的买家形成了两个分开的市场，因此更多竞争反而可能让消费者整体上处境更差。

The findings also raise doubts about simple solutions. Many rules assume that people will make better choices if information is shown clearly. But printing the exact mileage in large numbers may not help a buyer who only reads the first digit. The researchers add that studying only one kind of sale can be misleading: private sales alone would make buyers look more careful than they are, while dealership sales alone would make them look less careful.

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这些发现也让人怀疑简单的解决办法是否有效。许多规定假定，只要信息展示得清楚，人们就会做出更好的选择。但对于只看第一位数字的买家，把确切里程用大号字印出来可能并没有帮助。研究者还补充说，只研究一种交易可能会产生误导：只看私人交易会让买家显得比实际更细心，而只看经销商交易则会让他们显得不那么细心。

新闻来源

• Phys.org (University of Chicago) · The psychology of why we overpay for used cars—study points to left-digit bias (23 Oct 2026)
• University of Chicago News · The psychology of why we overpay for used cars
• McCombs School of Business · Odometer Inattention Costs Used Car Buyers

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