Aims: Price is one of the pivotal determinants when consumers make purchasing decisions. An unresolved issue in extant literature regarding factors that affect price referencing remains. The difficulty is in identifying types of price references that consumers will use in any given purchasing situation. This study hence proposed a new scheme of three-category taxonomy of reference price model and can be used as a conceptual framework for examining the effects of various reference prices on consumers’ price judgments. Methodology: A literature review and theoretical background lead to propositions. Conclusion: This research not only fills the literature gaps of referencing prices on consumer price judgments but also a three-category reference price model is developed. The present study goes beyond previous work in this field and a comprehensive set of reference price cues that influence consumers’ final reference price formation.  This new model gives future research a direction to test and refine relationships proposed in the present study.

Aims: Advertised reference prices are one of the contextual prices that have attracted substantial interest. This research proposes the moderating effect of point-of-purchase price information related to product line and other brand prices on consumers’ price perception and purchase intention. Methods: Using the literature review of reference prices as a method, it was found that contextual moderators that influence consumer perceptions of point-of-purchase price information were limited. Consequently, integrating the literature of advertised reference prices and the literature gap in this field leads to the proposition. Conclusions: As a result, we propose that product-line prices and prices of other brands moderate the effect of an advertised reference price on the perceived value of consumers, the benefits of search, and the intention to purchase. Hence, the impact of advertised reference prices may be mitigated to a certain extent, which may reduce the deceptiveness of the advertised reference prices.