Price and its Relation to Objective and Subjective Product Quality: Evidence from the Austrian Market |
| |
Authors: | Erich Kirchler Florian Fischer Erik Hölzl |
| |
Institution: | (1) Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Universitaetsstrasse 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria;(2) Department of Economic and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany |
| |
Abstract: | The correlation between price and product quality is usually found to be low, but still, consumers use a rule of thumb that
higher prices indicate higher quality. In the present study, data from the Austrian consumer magazine Konsument from 2004 to 2007 were analysed, and price–quality correlations were computed. Results confirm former studies as the overall
price–quality relation was positive and statistically significant but small (r = .30). It was especially small in the food and beverages sector as well as for cosmetics and for inexpensive products generally.
Consumers' subjective beliefs about a price–quality link and product complexity were also analysed. Results show that consumers
believe that a high price signals high quality, but that these beliefs are not well calibrated, i.e., not corresponding to
the product categories where actually higher price–quality correlations can be found. In sum, the results confirm for the
Austrian market that price is a poor signal of quality, and that consumers are hardly aware of the particular product sectors
where this signal is more valid. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|