Consumers\u27 perception of price, and perceived market efficiency: Product difference and individual difference

As more and more alternatives have become available for consumers in the market, uncertainty regarding relative product quality, under which consumer purchase decisions are frequently made, has also become greater. To reduce such uncertainty, consumers seek and process available information pertaining to the product: The main purpose of this dissertation is to suggest and investigate the notion that the conditions that account for differences in the price-perceived quality relationship are product difference and individual difference. For product difference, the new concept of perceived market efficiency is introduced to clarity the inconsistent results from previous studies and to conceptualize the price-perceived quality relationship more clearly. The results reveal the following conclusions. (1) The level of consumers\u27 dependence on price as a perceived quality indicator and consumers\u27 perceived market efficiency are completely different concepts; (2) Consumers perceive the markets of durables more efficient than those of non-durables, whereas they use price more heavily as a perceived quality indicator for non-durables than for durables; (3) Brand name is another important factor on perceived product quality and it is equally important for both durables and non-durables. For individual difference, the concept of field-dependence is examined as the dimension that can not only explain individual differences in the use of different cues for perceived quality but also bring managerial implications. The results bring the following conclusions. (1) The concept of field-dependence is appropriate as a dimension to distinguish individual difference in the use of different cues to infer perceived product quality; (2) Field-dependent consumers rely more heavily on extrinsic cues, whereas field-independent consumers rely more heavily on intrinsic cues in forming perceived quality; (3) The concept of field-dependence would bring managerial implications due to the availability of other managerially applicable variables to characterize the level of field-dependence (e.g., sex as validated in this study)