Price-matching announcements can actually make prices go up by changing how people search for deals. When stores promise to match prices, they don't have to lower their prices as much to attract customers. This makes shoppers less likely to look for better deals and more likely to accept higher prices. Also, when one store offers price-matching and the other doesn't, both stores end up having fewer sales and smaller discounts. So, price-matching can lead to higher prices, especially when more people use it and when stores have different sales strategies.