Reference Prices and Deception in Newspaper Advertising

Consumers were exposed to newspaper advertisements for four products and one of five different price representations—regular price alone, sale price alone, regular price with Manufacturer's Suggested List Price (MSLP), sale price with regular price, or sale price with MSLP. Perceptions of the ordinary prices of the products were not affected by the presence or type of reference price, but the subjects did have lower estimates of ordinary prices in the sale context. The accuracy of consumer perceptions of ordinary prices was not related to the recency of subject shopping experience for the products as measured in the study.