How Consumers Evaluate prices
While many consumers do know the going of staple products (bread, milk, and a few other items they buy frequently), most consumers have no idea what your price is or was.
Research by de Chernatony and knox (1992) found just 15 percent of shoppers remembered the price of Evian bottled water and 6 percent the price of Del Monte fruit juice. just 59 percent range. They conclude that consumer behavior is based on relative price assessments, not on absolute numbers.
A "reference price" is a price in the mind of consumers as to what they would expect to pay for your kind of product.