You Cost a Lot, So You're Precious

Published on July 9, 2008  

Let's face it: customers often equate price with quality. Many consumers think high prices mean high quality, while low prices signal lower quality. Sometimes they're right. But sometimes they're wrong—for instance, when a seller offers a discounted price to move inventory. So why do buyers still use price as their qualifier? Perhaps marketers are just talking too much.

A recent set of studies shows that consumers rely on price as an indicator of quality when they're exposed to a lot of product information. The sheer volume of info can make it difficult for customers to accurately assess product quality based on the information given—so they focus on price as a quality cue.

Researchers claim this behavior is spurred by the natural desire most of us have for closure. When presented with a large amount of information, customers focus on the quality element, and fill in the blanks themselves. Since price is one of the most apparent qualifiers, they repeatedly turn to it.

And, since consumers are willing to purchase more expensive brands when they perceive a high price-quality correlation, these variables can influence quite a lot of purchase decisions.

So what's the lesson for marketers here? Unless you want to risk charging a high price to appeal to the price-quality crowd, it pays to keep your marketing messages short and sweet.

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