Evidence from past research and insights from an exploratory investigation are combined in a conceptual model that defines and relates price, perceived quality, and perceived value. Propositions ab...

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Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence:

This article examines the dissimilar use of product information cues in product evaluations by differentially familiar subjects. Specifically, the use of price cues and intrinsic product cues for the assessment of product quality is hypothesized to depend on prior knowledge. For a product with a positive quality-price association in the marketplace, the study shows that low-familiar and highly familiar subjects tend to perceive a stronger price-quality relationship than do moderately familiar subjects. Moreover, as subjects product familiarity increases, the use of intrinsic cues for product quality assessments tends to become relatively stronger.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2489530.pdf

The Moderating Effect of Prior Knowledge on Cue Utilization in Product Evaluations

The author reports some empirical results on the strength of the quality-price relation. For many products, the relation between quality and price appears to be very weak; hence, for many products,...

Do Higher Prices Signal Higher Quality

The fundamentals of wetting and wicking are reviewed. Wetting is the displacement of a fiber-air interface with a fiber-liquid interface. Wicking is the spontaneous flow of a liquid in a porous sub...

Wetting and Wicking

The absolute and relative impact of current quality and reputation variables on consumer decisions are examined using data from the market for Bordeaux wine. The estimates indicate that a model of consumer decision making which incorporates information on reputation (past quality) and collective reputation (average group quality) rejects alternative models that include current quality. The results also indicate that reputation has a large impact on the willingness to pay of consumers, that long term reputation is considerably more important than short term quality movements, and that consumers react slowly to changes in product quality. Collective reputation is shown to have an impact on consumer willingness to pay that is as large as that of individual firm reputation. If reputation and collective reputation effects are ignored, the estimated impact of current quality and short term changes in quality on consumer behaviour are overstated.

/pdf/the-use-of-quality-and-reputation-indicators-by-consumers-4gwzo6anzb.pdf

The Use of Quality and Reputation Indicators by Consumers: The Case of Bordeaux Wine

A variety of investigations have indicated that consumers subjectively perceive a positive relation between price and product quality. However it is also necessary to consider the objective analysis of actual price-quality relations which exist among competing products available for consumer choice. This investigation reviews findings from some subjective and objective evaluations of the price-quality relationship, followed by an objective analysis of price versus quality among 135 recently marketed groups of products in five product categories. Findings indicate that for 51 percent of the products a positive price-produce quality relation may be inferred, and dramatic differences in this relation are evident from one product category to another. Implications of these findings for the efficiency of consumer decision-making, the performance of consumer markets and future research on objective price-quality relations are discussed.

New Evidence on Price and Product Quality

Five test methods were compared on their potential for measuring the moisture absorhency ("thirstiness") of terry towels The comparison was made by using both survey and laboratory techniques to determine the overall utility of each test for research applications The results indicate that the Porous Plate and Sliding Block Methods have potential for measuring the moisture absorbency of towels However, both tests have strengths and limitations, and the particular test chosen will depend on the researcher's needs

George B. Sproles

Papers

New Evidence on Price and Product Quality

Absorbency of Terry Towels: A Comparative Evaluation of Test Methods: