Measures consumers' internal reference prices — the price standards stored in memory that serve as anchors for evaluating whether an observed price is acceptable, a bargain, or a rip-off. Expected price captures what consumers anticipate paying for a product category. Acceptable range captures the latitude of prices within which a purchase is considered reasonable. Fair price captures the price consumers believe morally should be charged, independent of market conditions. Internal reference prices are the cognitive benchmarks that mediate the effect of advertised prices on purchase likelihood and price fairness perceptions. Understanding consumers' reference price structures is essential for promotional pricing, comparative price advertising ('was/now' pricing), and revenue management strategy.
Open-ended price elicitation plus Likert (1–7) plausibility judgments; or adapted Likert format
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Four component scores. Expected price is the most widely used component in isolation. The acceptable price range defines a latitude of acceptance — prices below the lower bound trigger quality concerns; prices above the upper bound trigger unacceptability. Reference prices are category-specific and updated with market exposure. Comparative price advertising ('was $100, now $60') shifts consumers' reference prices upward, making the deal appear larger. Mazumdar, Raj & Sinha (2005) Journal of Marketing provide a comprehensive review of reference price research.
Biswas, A., & Blair, E.A. (1991). Contextual effects of reference prices in retail advertisements. Journal of Marketing, 55(3), 1–12.
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