Price Anchoring
Price anchoring uses a reference number, like a struck-through original price, to shape how the actual price is judged.
What price anchoring is
Price anchoring uses a reference number to shape how the real price feels: the struck-through original beside the sale price, the premium tier beside the standard one.
The first number sets the frame; the actual price is judged against it instead of on its own.
Why price anchoring matters
Shoppers rarely know what something “should” cost, so they lean on the nearest comparison. Provide the comparison and you shape the judgment; leave it out and the shopper anchors on whatever they saw elsewhere.
Anchors stores use
- Compare-at and struck-through original prices
- A premium tier that makes the middle tier reasonable
- Per-unit and per-day price framing
- Decoy options priced to steer toward a target choice
Frequently asked questions
Are fake original prices legal?
Reference prices generally must be genuine, a price actually charged, or they cross into deceptive pricing that regulators and platforms act on. The anchor has to be real.
What’s a decoy price?
An option built to lose: priced close to the target choice but clearly worse value, so the target looks obviously right. It works quietly, and clumsily done it insults the shopper.