In these cultures, you are likely to see more price tags with amounts like $8.88 or $4.88, rather than $9.99.
In Japan and China, the number eight is thought to bring luck because its pronunciation is similar to wealth or prosperity. Three is a lucky number in Sweden, as per the saying “all good things come in groups of three.”. In India, twenty-six is thought to be unlucky after too many tragic events occurred on that date, including an earthquake, tsunami, and terrorist attacks. Many Bulgarians believe this number to be cursed, following the deaths of a few notable people with that phone number. Bulgaria even has an unlucky phone number: 0888 888 888. This is Latin for “I lived,” a phrase that is commonly written on tombstones. The Roman numeral for seventeen is XVII, an anagram for VIXI. The number 39 is unlucky in Afghanistan, where it sounds like “morda-gow,” meaning “dead cow.”. This makes nine an unlucky number in Japan, to the extent that some hospitals and airlines will avoid using the number. Similarly, in Japanese, the word for the number nine sounds similar to the word for torture. Some buildings in China skip the fourth floor, the way buildings in the U.S. The Chinese, therefore, consider four a very unlucky number. The pronunciation of the number four in China sounds almost exactly like the Chinese word for death. Read on for a few examples of numbers that carry strong positive or negative connotations around the world. A number that has very favorable connotations in one country may be viewed in just the opposite way in another. 
The more challenging factor can be the associations derived from religion, mythology, and superstitions. Work with a translation agency to accurately convert times, dates, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Measurements and other numerical conventions are the easy part. And, in some countries, the numbers you use may have more impact than you think. A well-crafted global marketing approach requires adapting messaging, images, graphics, colors, and even numbers so they are appropriate for each culture.
To really engage people, it’s not enough to just translate your website, product branding, or marketing collateral into another language. When creating a multicultural marketing strategy that aims to reach people of various backgrounds and beliefs, it’s important to understand how your messaging is perceived in each locale you are targeting. In contemporary times, few treat numbers with such reverence, but there are still many numbers that hold special meanings and associations in different cultures.
Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, believed that numbers had souls.
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