Source effect of advertised reference price influences on transaction value in online shopping environments

Prior studies examine whether or not using advertised reference price (ARP) increases consumers' perceived gain from the purchase decision. However, few studies address whether or not the ARP should involve an online or offline source. Present study thus investigates the influence of the APR source on consumer perceived value. Empirical results indicate that consumers would perceive higher transaction value when an online seller adopts another online retailer's sale price as ARP than when the online seller uses an offline competitor's sale price as the ARP.