Abstract
A number of comprehensive empirical studies analysing the statistical relationship between price and quality in consumer markets were published in the last decades. The overall result of these studies is that the statistical relationship is rather weak. This may be interpreted as an indication of consumers' irrational behaviour. The article reexamines published statistical results to see whether the information properties of the goods provide evidence of at least a bounded consumer rationality.
Zusammenfassung
In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist eine grö\ere Zahl von empirischen Studien veröffentlicht worden, in denen die Beziehung zwischen Preisen und Qualitäten auf Konsumgütermärkten analysiert wurde. Das durchgängige Ergebnis dieser Studien ist, da\ die statistische Beziehung zwischen beiden Grö\en ziemlich schwach ist. Dieser Befund könnte als Indiz dafür angesehen werden, da\ sich Konsumenten irrational verhalten. Der Beitrag reanalysiert bisher veröffentlichte Daten, um zu prüfen, ob die Informationseigenschaften von Gütern Hinweise darauf geben, da\ sich Konsumenten wenigstens eingeschränkt rational verhalten. Dafür spricht vor allem der Befund, da\ die Korrelation zwischen Preis und Qualität dann deutlich höher ausfällt, wenn es sich um Güter handelt, deren Qualität von den Konsumenten zu mä\igen Suchkosten beurteilt werden kann.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Archibald, R. B., Haulman, C. A., & Moody, C. E. (1983). Quality, price, advertising, and published quality ratings.Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 347–356.
Bodell, R. W., Kerton, R. R., & Schuster, R. W. (1986). Price as a signal of quality: Canada in the international context.Journal of Consumer Policy, 9, 431–444.
Curry, D. J., & Faulds, D. J. (1986). Indexing product quality: Issues, theory and results.Journal of Consumer Research, 13, 134–145.
Dardis, R., & Gieser, N. (1980). Price and quality of durable goods: Are they more closely related in the seventies than in the sixties?Journal of Consumer Policy, 4, 238–248.
Diller, H. (1977). Der Preis als Qualitätsindikator.Die Betriebswirtschaft, 37, 219–233.
Diller, H. (1988). Die Preis-Qualitäts-Relation von Konsumgütern im 10-Jahresvergleich.Die Betriebswirtschaft, 48, 195–200.
Friedman, M. P. (1967). Quality and price considerations in rational consumer decision making.Journal of Consumer Affairs, 1, 13–23.
Geistfeld, L. V. (1982). The price-quality relationship revisited.Journal of Consumer Affairs, 16, 334–346.
Gerstner, E. (1985). Do higher prices signal higher quality?Journal of Marketing Research, 22, 209–215.
Hanf, C.-H. (1986).Entscheidungslehre. München: Oldenbourg.
Hüttenrauch, R. (1973). Probleme um Qualität und Preis beim Warentest.Markenartikel, No. 9, 434–444.
Lambert, Z. V. (1970). Product perception: An important variable in pricing strategy.Journal of Marketing, 34(4), 68–71.
Marquardt, R. A., & McCann, A. F. (1975). Does advertising communicate product quality to consumers?Journal of Advertising, 4, 27–33.
Morris, R. T., & Bronson, C. S. (1969). The chaos of competition indicated by Consumer Reports.Journal of Marketing, 33(3), 26–34.
Nelson, P. (1970). Information and consumer behaviour.Journal of Political Economy, 78, 311–329.
Oxenfeldt, A. R. (1950). Consumer knowledge: Its measurement and effect.Review of Economics and Statistics, 32, 300–314.
Riesz, P. J. (1978). Price versus quality in the marketplace.Journal of Retailing, 54(4), 15–28.
Riesz, P. J. (1979). Price-quality correlations for packaged food products.Journal of Consumer Affairs, 13, 236–247.
Scitovsky, T. (1945). Some consequences of the habit of judging quality by price.Review of Economic Studies, 12, 100–105.
Shapiro, B. P. (1973). Price reliance: Existence and sources.Journal of Marketing Research, 10, 286–294.
Shapiro, C. (1982). Consumer information, product quality and seller reputation.Bell Journal, 13, 251–262.
Simon, H. A. (1945).Administrative behavior. New York: Free Press.
Simon, H. A. (1976).Administrative behavior. Third Edition. New York: Free Press.
Sproles, G. B. (1977). New evidence on price and product quality.Journal of Consumer Affairs, 11(1), 63–77.
Steenkamp, J. B. (1988). The relationship between price and quality in the marketplace.Economist (The Netherlands),136, 491–507.
Stigler, G. J. (1961). The economics of information.Journal of Political Economy, 69, 213–225.
Sutton, R. J., & Riesz, P.C. (1979). The effect of product visibility upon the relationship between price and quality.Journal of Consumer Policy, 3, 145–150.
Tellis, G. J., & Wernerfeldt, B. (1987). Competitive price and quality under asymmetric information.Marketing Science, 6, 240–253.
Wersebe, B. v. (1993). Der Produktpreis als Indikator für Produktqualität.Materialien zur Agrarunternehmenslehre, Heft 3. Kiel: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Agrarökonomie.
Williamson, O. E. (1975).Markets and hierarchies. New York: Free Press.
Yamada, Y., & Ackerman, N. (1984). Price-quality correlations in the Japanese market.Journal of Consumer Affairs, 18, 251–256.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hanf, C.H., von Wersebe, B. Price, quality, and consumers' behaviour. J Consum Policy 17, 335–348 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01018967
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01018967