Reference price
The price you expect to pay, which all real prices get judged against.
What it means
The internal standard a consumer holds for what a product should cost — formed from past prices paid, advertised prices, and competitor prices — against which an observed price is evaluated as a gain (a deal) or a loss (overpriced). Prices below the reference generate transaction utility and please; prices above it sting, even if the absolute amount is affordable. Sellers shape reference prices over time through regular pricing, sales framing, and external 'list' prices, and frequent discounting can erode them. It matters as the cognitive baseline that gives anchoring, charm pricing, and promotions their power.
Examples
If you expect coffee to cost $3, a $5 cup feels like a rip-off while a $2 cup feels like a steal.
Shops print a high 'RRP' beside the ticket precisely to install a reference price, so that £45 reads as a saving of £30 rather than simply as the price.
A commuter used to paying about £30 balks at a £48 fare on a busy Friday, while a first-time traveller with no expectation books the same seat without blinking.
First described in Rooted in reference dependence; Kalyanaram & Winer (1995).