Using reference price to enhance consumers’ transaction utility and purchase intention is retailers’ favorite marketing method. With the basis of the plausibility of reference price, we try to investigate whether framing the reference price influences consumers’ price perceptions. This study infers that higher price cognition can be stimulated by the combination of two proximal reference pieces and the sale price. We find that the assimilation effect and the contrast effect are not mutually exclusive effects, then we integrated the assimilation effect and the contrast effect are not mutually exclusive effects, then we integrated the assimilation/ contrast effect and adaptation level theory to construct an “assimilation-contrast continuity” on explaining consumers’ reference price information process.
