The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of reference price information in a catalog versus in-store purchase situation. An experiment with 320 subjects was conducted in a large regional mall in the Midwest. Findings based on analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons revealed that reference price information did influence consumers’ fair price evaluations, how much they would be willing to pay for products, and the highest prices they would be willing to pay. The influence of reference price information was most evident for catalog items that were higher-priced (suits) and labeled “made in U.S.A.” Implications are discussed.
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