Rezensionen

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Book reviews

     

Should Prices of Consumer Goods Be Better Indicators of Product Quality?

In contrast to the common assumption that prices are good indicators of quality, this note argues that price-quality correlations are typically rather low. Such low coefficients are not surprising since mass-produced goods of high quality may have lower prices than scarce goods of lower quality. In addition, low correlations can be characterized as desirable, since prices are an indicator not of quality but of scarcity.     

The changing consumer in Germany

Changes in economic, demographic, and cultural factors in West Germany during the past decades are briefly described, as well as changes in consumption patterns and the way the major marketing variables have been used and implemented. Special attention is paid to the upheavals caused by the German reunification. Implications for marketing management are drawn by proposing eight bipolar constructs.     

A New Look at Old Coefficients

For more than 50 years, numerous studies have shown low price–quality correlation coefficients, mostly close to 0.2. That prices fail to function as valid indicators of product quality has been interpreted as informational market failure. This article, however, argues, that, according to the economic theory of price formation, prices are not an indicator of quality, but an indicator of scarcity. This allows the conclusion that workable consumer goods markets, at least as seen from the consumer’s point of view, should be characterized by low or even negative correlation coefficients rather than by strong positive coefficients.     

The Interest of Consumers in Ecological Product Information Is Growing – Evidence From Two German Surveys

In a German survey from 1989, consumers showed less interest in information about ecologically relevant product attributes than could be expected after several years of vivacious discussion in the mass media about ecological problems associated with consumer products and consumer behaviour. However, a replication of the study in 1998 showed a considerable increase of consumer interest in such information. In particular, there is evidence that in comparison to common product quality information, on average consumers rate the relative importance of ecological product information higher, that consumers want product testing agencies to take into account more aspects of products that are related to ecology, that more consumers would prefer reliable standardized ecological information obtainable at the point of purchase, e.g., in the form of eco-labels, and that consumers view an increasing number of products as potentially affected by ecological risks. Finally, the results show that at least for some products, the scope of perceived ecological risks seems to have increased and that consumers generally are becoming concerned with harmful effects of the production and distribution of a product in addition to the effects caused by usage.