Getting Less Than You Pay For: Very High Prices Lead to Inferences of Very Low Quality

As products get more expensive people expect higher quality. In fact, research has documented that merely offering a higher price can fundamentally improve customer evaluation and even product performance. Nevertheless, high prices bring high expectations, and unmet expectations might negatively influence quality inferences. In four studies we asked participants to taste novel cookies and rate their quality. Whereas slightly higher prices produced slightly higher quality ratings, substantially higher prices produced substantially lower quality ratings.



Citation:

Ayelet Gneezy , Ziv Carmon, and Leif D. Nelson (2009) ,"Getting Less Than You Pay For: Very High Prices Lead to Inferences of Very Low Quality", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 119-122.

Authors

Ayelet Gneezy , University of California, San Diego, USA
Ziv Carmon, INSEAD, Singapore
Leif D. Nelson, University of California, San Diego, USA



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36 | 2009



Share Proceeding

Featured papers

See More

Featured

Easy To Be Selfish: Comparing the Influence of a Social Norm and an Individual Example

Zheshuai Yang, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Yan Zhang, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Read More

Featured

Enhancing Perceptions toward In-Home Artificial Intelligence Devices through Trust: Anthropomorphism and Non-Branded Device Messages

Seth Ketron, East Carolina University
Brian Taillon, East Carolina University
Christine Kowalczyk, East Carolina University

Read More

Featured

Understanding Trust Formation in Peer-to-peer Social Commerce

Lena Cavusoglu, Portland State University
Deniz Atik, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA

Read More

Engage with Us

Becoming an Association for Consumer Research member is simple. Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members.