You Get What You Pay For But I Don’T: Effect of Construal Level on the Price-Quality Relationship

Drawing on construal level theory, this research proposes that consumers’ reliance on price (vs. product attributes) for making quality inferences will be enhanced when the judgment is psychologically distant (vs. close). A series of five experiments provides support for this thesis. Experiments 1-3 manipulate interpersonal distance via the “self” vs. “other” distinction and find that the impact of price (attributes) on quality inferences increases (decreases) when these inferences are made with regard to another person rather than oneself. Experiment 4 obtains the same pattern with regard to temporal distance, while Experiment 5 provides support for the underlying process by directly manipulating construal level.

Citation:

Dengfeng Yan and Jaideep Sengupta (2011) ,"You Get What You Pay For But I Don’T: Effect of Construal Level on the Price-Quality Relationship", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Zhihong Yi, Jing Jian Xiao, and June Cotte and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 236-238.