Deceptive pricing or creative marketing, do you know when you're being manipulated?

In my 100k population city, there is only one major supermarket chain (8 stores in the area). Their only competitors are Walmart, two warehouse club stores and a few independent grocers (IGA).

The major chain price points items with signs like “3 for $5” or “5 for $3”. The idea being that you, the shopper, will focus on a perceived value. If you do the math, which they make difficult by using odd numbers that aren’t readily divisible in most people’s heads, the cost per item is nearly always more expensive than an equivalent item on the shelf.

Additionally, you must have the store’s “Savings Card” to scan at every transaction or that so-called discount doesn’t apply.

This chain’s policy made me do some comparison shopping for like items at the competition’s stores. Even with the “Savings Card”, I paid 13% more for items at the chain than at Walmart. The surprise came in discovering that IGAs were 17% cheaper. Additionally, the independents only tag the cost of one item unless there is a genuine discount.

Does this sort of manipulation anger you? Do you fall for the creative marketing?