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Communicating Price‐Quality Relationships
Author(s) -
Gotlieb Jerry B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1990.tb00419.x
Subject(s) - quality (philosophy) , elaboration likelihood model , perception , psychology , affect (linguistics) , elaboration , perceived quality , social psychology , process (computing) , marketing , business , computer science , communication , epistemology , neuroscience , humanities , persuasion , operating system , philosophy , brand awareness
Despite myriad studies concerning the effects of price on perceived‐quality, the results are inconsistent. These inconsistencies have prompted the call for greater theory development to help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the process through which consumers develop perceived‐quality. A theory the Elaboration Likelihood Model, could be applied to suggest that it is essential to identify the level of involvement when predicting the effects of variables on perceived‐quality. Yet, previously reported perceived‐quality research has not examined whether a change in price also changes the level of involvement. The impact of price savings on the level of involvement was examined in the experiment reported in this paper. Results of this research suggest that communicating price savings can affect the level of involvement. Experimental results also suggest that consumers with high involvement develop their attitudes and perceptions of technical quality from a careful evaluation of the arguments presented in the message. Conversely, consumers with low involvement lack motivation to evaluate those arguments and they have little effect on attitudes or perception of technical quality. Consequently, the experimental results support the Elaboration Likelihood Model.