Disha

Pricing psychology & negotiation · strategy atlas

Installment / EMI framing

what it means

Presenting a large price as a smaller recurring payment (per month or per instalment) so the number that registers emotionally is the small one, not the total.

a real example

High-ticket purchases — appliances, electronics, furniture — routinely advertise the monthly EMI figure prominently and the total price in smaller print, because the smaller number feels far more affordable.

when to use it

Genuinely high-ticket items where the total price would otherwise trigger hesitation, and a real, transparent instalment option is available.

when it backfires

Emphasising the instalment number while obscuring the total cost or interest involved crosses from framing into deception, which damages trust once a customer does the full math.