Reference pricing happens when a seller displays a previous (or future) price alongside the current price to make the current price look more attractive to customers. The reference price acts as an anchor to consumers. Many people commonly use the reference price to assess the value of an offer, and may interpret it as the “normal”, most commonly charged, or un-discounted price. In which case, the advertised price looks like a really good bargain and they are therefore more likely to buy at this point and perhaps reduce the time spent searching for substitutes.