Technique · Influence
Real reference prices and savings math
Show a reference price or a savings figure only when it is real: a price actually charged for a meaningful period, or a saving computed from real plan prices. A true anchor makes the offer easier to judge; an invented one invites refunds, regulator attention and distrust of every later price.
Plain label: verified price anchorAlso known as: reference price, strikethrough price, was/now pricing, deal form, annual savings
How it works
A higher reference price changes how the actual price feels by contrast, and a pre-computed saving spares people the arithmetic, which is part of what makes a deal attractive. Both effects work through perception, so they also work when the anchor is fake. That is why only true anchors last: buyers and regulators can check the price history.
In the book. Two Chapter 1 stories show price cues at work: an owner who marked slow items as reduced from an inflated price, and misprinted coupons that sold as well as real ones (Ch.1, pp.5-8). INF-T-FN-04 (Influence Ch.1, p.7) INF-T-FN-05 (Influence Ch.1, p.5)
In a product [S]. Compute every saving from live prices and show a reference price only from a recorded history. Keep the share of anchors backed by history (INF-K-04) as a standing check.
Evidence Evidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.. Reference prices and anchors move price judgments across a large research literature; the lift from a true anchor varies by category.
Evidence warning
Reference prices are regulated in many markets (for example the US FTC pricing guides and the EU requirement to base a prior price on the lowest price charged in the 30 days before a reduction); check each market before launch.
What the research says
A jewelry store owner learned to raise prices on slow items and then mark them as reduced from the inflated price; the book presents it as a practice to recognize, not copy.
Influence Ch.1, pp.7-8
Coupons that carried no saving drew the same response as real ones, showing how much of a deal's pull comes from its form.
Influence Ch.1, pp.5-6
Before you start
- A stored price history (what was charged, when and for how long) behind any reference price
- At least one segment already has product-market fit.
How to build it
- Web
- Next to the annual toggle, compute the saving from the live monthly price ("$96 a year less than paying monthly") instead of a hard-coded percentage.
- E-commerce
- Show a "was" price only from stored price history, and hide the strikethrough automatically when the item has not recently sold at that price.
- Email and SMS
- In promotions, state the dollar saving against the price the customer would actually pay today, not against a list price nobody pays.
What can go wrong
- Strikethrough prices the item never sold at.
- Savings shown against a plan nobody buys.
- Permanent sales: when everything is always reduced, the anchor stops meaning anything.
Pairs well with
- Pairs with in-t-fn-06: the anchor is the first plan people see, so it must be a real plan.
- Pairs with in-t-cc-34: compute savings on the full price, fees included.
In practice
Where it shows up
Limits
What we don’t claim
- Left Brain and Right Brain are a metaphor for extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, not a claim about neuroscience.Actionable Gamification Ch.13, pp.342-343
Sources
Influence · Robert Cialdini
Ch.1, p.7 · Ch.1, p.5
Source IDs: INF-T-FN-04INF-T-FN-05
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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