Examination of Consumers’ Perceived Quality and Willingness to Buy in the Context of Price Variability and Frequency of Price Change: A Study of Retail Products

Keywords: Frequency of price changes, price variability, perceived quality, willingness to buy

Abstract

Marketing managers are able to influence consumers' perceptions of quality and their willingness to buy, using the frequency of price changes and price variability. This study aims to examine the differences in the frequency of price changes and price varia- bility, in terms of the perceived quality and the willingness to buy. For this purpose, using values calculated according to the average and standard deviation of the market price of a specified product, we obtained two different price variations, ±1σ and ±2σ, and price stim- uli determined at two different frequencies of price changes (three and seven times were considered), which resulted in four different participant groups. At the end of the study, a statistically significant difference was only found between consumers in the low price var- iability and infrequent price change condition and consumers in the high price variability and infrequent price change condition, in terms of the perceived quality.

Author Biographies

Kalender Özcan ATILGAN, Mersin University

Atilgan, Kalender Özcan, is a Professor in Management Information Systems at the Mersin University. He earned his B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Dokuz Eylul University in 2004 and his M.Sc. in MBA from the Dokuz Eylul University in 2006. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Cukurova in 2012. He has publications on pricing, behavioral pricing, retailing, and branding.

Author’s contact detail: Address: Management Information Systems, School of Applied Technology and Management of Erdemli, Mersin University, Turkey; phone number: +90 324 515 6023; Email: atilgan@mersin.edu.tr

Evrim Ersin KANGAL, Mersin University

Kangal, Evrim Ersin, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Technology and Information Systems at Mersin University. He received his B.Sc. in the physics department from Mersin University in 2008. He has completed his Ph.D degree in high energy physics at Cukurova University and the European Organization for Nuclear Research(CERN) in 2013. His Ph.D. thesis is to investigate both the dark matter and extra dimension signal in the monojet events emerging from the proton-proton collision. He also solved theoretical particle equations like the Dirac, Klein-Gordon, and Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau in various spacetimes metrics to understand the effects of general relativity. He has also published many studies related to the application of machine learning algorithms to the field of physics and medical research in recently.

Author’s contact detail: Address: Computer Technology and Information Systems, School of Applied Technology and Management of Erdemli, Mersin University, Turkey; phone number: +90 324 515 60 23; Email: evrimersin@gmail.com

Muharrem TALASLIOĞLU, Mersin University

Talaslioglu, Muharrem, is a PhD candidate in Marketing. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 2016 from Mersin University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He holds a master degree on Business Information Management from Mersin University in 2019. His research interests include pricing, consumer behavior, online marketing and retailing.

Author’s contact detail: Address: HWG GmbH Drahtzieherweg 7 47877 Willich, Germany; phone number: +49 163 7784173; Email: mtalaslio@outlook.com

References

Alba, J. W., Mela, C. F., Shimp, T. A., and Urbany, J. E. 1999. The effect of discount frequency and depth on consumer price judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, 26(2): 99-114.

Bellini, S. and Aiolfi, S. 2019. Impulse buying behavior: the mobile revolution. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 48(1): 1-17.

Alford, B. L. and Biswas, A. 2002. The effects of discount level, price consciousness and sale proneness on consumers’ price perception and behavioral intention. Journal of Business Research, 55(9): 775-783.

Allender, W. J. and Richards, T. J. 2012. Brand loyalty and price promotion strategies: an empirical analysis. Journal of Retailing, 88(3): 323-342.

Blattberg, R.C., Briesch, R. and Fox, E.J. 1995. How promotions work. Marketing Science, 14(3): G122-G132.

Boyle, P. J., Kim, H., and Lathrop, E. S. 2018. The relationship between price and quality in durable product categories with private label brands. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 27(6): 647-660.

Caputo, V., Lusk, J. L., and Nayga, R. M. 2020. Am I getting a good deal? Reference‐dependent decision making when the reference price is uncertain. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 102(1), 132-153.

Chae, M. J. 2020. Does price promotion hurt products' perceived quality? The role of attribute alignability. The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management, 8(3): 9-21.

Chandrashekaran, R. and Jagpal, H. 1995. Is there a well-defined internal reference price?. in NA - Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 22, eds. Frank R. Kardes and Mita Sujan, Provo, UT, Association for Consumer Research, pp. 230-235.

Cho, S. and Workman, J. 2011. Gender, fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership, and need for touch. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 15(3): 363-382.

Choi, C. and Mattila, A. S. 2014. The effects of promotion framing on consumers' price perceptions. Journal of Service Management, 25(1): 149-160.

Cui, A. P., Wajda, T. A., and Hu, M. Y. 2012. Consumer animosity and product choice: might price make a difference?. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29(7): 494-506.

Darke, P. R. and Chung, C. M. 2005. Effects of pricing and promotion on consumer perceptions: it depends on how you frame it. Journal of Retailing, 81(1): 35-47.

Darsono, L. I. and Junaedi, C. M. 2006. An examination of perceived quality, satisfaction, and loyalty relationship. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, 8(3): 323-342.

Deering, B. J. and Jacoby, J. 1972. Price intervals and individual price limits as determinants of product evaluation and selection. in SV - Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Consumer Research, eds. M. Venkatesan, Chicago, IL: Association for Consumer Research: 145-166.

Della Bitta, A. J., Monroe, K. B., and McGinnis, J. M. 1981. Consumer perceptions of comparative price advertisements. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(4): 416-427.

Dodds, W. B. and Monroe, K. B. 1985. The effect of brand and price information on subjective product evaluations. inNA-Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 12, eds. Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Moris B. Holbrook, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research: 85-90.

Dodds, W. B., Monroe, K. B., and Grewal, D. 1991. Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers’ product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(3): 307-319.

Fan, X., Liu, F., and Zhang, J. 2013. To be familiar or to be there? The roles of brand familiarity and social presence on web store image and online purchase intention. International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 5(3): 199-221.

Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F. 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1): 39-50.

Gijsbrechts, E. 1993. Prices and pricing research in consumer marketing: Some recent developments. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 10(2): 115-151.

Grewal, D., Krishnan, R., Baker, J., and Borin, N. A. 1998. The effect of store name, brand name and price discounts on consumers' evaluations and purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing, 74(3): 331.

Gupta, S. and Cooper, L. G. 1992. The discounting of discounts and promotion thresholds. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3): 401-411.

Han, S., Gupta, S., and Lehmann, D. R. 2001. Consumer price sensitivity and price thresholds. Journal of Retailing, 77(4): 435-456.

Harlam, B., Krishna, A., Lehmann, D., and Mela, C. 1995. Impact of bundle type, price framing, and familiarity on purchase intention for the bundle. Journal of Business Research, 33, 57-66.

Helsen, K. and Schmittlein, D. C. 1992. How does a product market's typical price-promotion pattern. Journal of Retailing, 68(3): 316-338.

Helson H. 1964. Adaptation Level Theory, New York, NY: Harper and Row.

Ho, T. H., Tang, C. S., and Bell, D. R. 1998. Rational shopping behavior and the option value of variable pricing. Management Science, 44(12-part-2): S145-S160.

Hsu, C. F., Huan, T. C., Guntoro, B., and Thongma, W. 2014. ‘The effects of price promotions type and promotion depth of travel products on consumers’ behavior’, International Journal of Agricultural Travel and Tourism, 5(1): 77-90.

Huitema, B. 2011. The analysis of covariance and alternatives: Statistical methods for experiments, quasi-experiments, and single-case studies. (Vol. 608), John Wiley & Sons.

Jedidi, K., Mela, C. F., and Gupta, S. 1999. Managing advertising and promotion for long-run profitability. Marketing Science, 18(1): 1-22.

Johnson, M. D., Herrmann, A., and Bauer, H. H. 1999. The effects of price bundling on consumer evaluations of product offerings. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 16(2): 129-142.

Jung, I., Park, I., and Choi, J. H. 2018. Examining the performance index of retail pricing strategies under different types of competition. International Journal of Revenue Management, 10(3-4): 290-325.

Kalwani, M. U. and Yim, C. K. 1992. Consumer price and promotion expectations: An experimental study. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(1): 90-100.

Kalyanaram, G. and J. D. C. Little 1994. An empirical analysis of latitude of price acceptance in consumer package goods. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(3): 408-418.

Kalyanaram, G. and Winer, R. S. 2022. Behavioral response to price: Data-based insights and future research for retailing. Journal of Retailing, 98(1), 46-70.

Kosenko, R. and Rahtz, D. 1988. Buyer market price knowledge influence on acceptable price range and price limits. in NA - Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 15, eds. Micheal J. Houston, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research: 328-331.

Krishna, A. 1994. The impact of dealing patterns on purchase behavior. Marketing Science, 13(4): 351-373.

Kumar, V. and Pereira, A. 1995. Explaining the variation in short-term sales response to retail price promotions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(3): 155-169.

Kühn, S. W. and Mostert, P. G. 2015. Customer satisfaction and relationship intention within the South African clothing retail industry. The Retail and Marketing Review, 11(2): 29-51.

Lalwani, A., Wang, J., and Silvera, D. 2021. Price promotion (in) frequency and consumers’ brand quality evaluations. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 6(1): 91-101.

Lattin, J. M. and Bucklin, R. E. 1989. Reference effects of price and promotion on brand choice behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 26(3): 299-310.

Lee, M. and Lim, H. S. 2009. The effect of price promotional information about brand on consumer's quality perception: Conditioning on pretrial brand. Journal of Global Academy of Marketing, 19(3): 17-27.

Lehtimäki, A. V., Monroe, K. B., and Somervuori, O. 2019. The influence of regular price level (low, medium, or high) and framing of discount (monetary or percentage) on perceived attractiveness of discount amount. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 18(1): 76-85.

Lichtenstein, D. R., Bloch, P. H., and Black, W. C. 1988. Correlates of price acceptability. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2): 243-252.

Mazumdar, T., and Jun, S. Y. 1992. Effects of price uncertainty on consumer purchase budget and price thresholds. Marketing Letters, 3(4): 323-329.

Mazumdar, T. and Jun, S. Y. 1993. Consumer evaluations of multiple versus single price change. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(3): 441-450.

Mehta, N., Rajiv, S., and Srinivasan, K. 2003. Price uncertainty and consumer search: A structural model of consideration set formation. Marketing Science, 22(1): 58-84.

Mela, C. and Urbany, J. 1997. Promotion over time: exploring expectations and explanations. NA-Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 24, eds. Merrie Brucks and Deborah J. MacInnis, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research: 529-535.

Meyer, R. J. and Assuncao, J. 1990. The optimality of consumer stockpiling strategies. Marketing Science, 9(1): 18-41.

Monroe, K. B. and Dodds, W. B. 1988. A research program for establishing the validity of the price-quality relationship. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1): 151-168.

Monroe, K. B. and Krishnan, R. 1985. The effect of price on subjective product evaluations. Perceived Quality, 1(1): 209-232.

Morris, M. H. and Morris, G. 1990. Market-Oriented Pricing: Strategies for Management. Lincolnwool, Ill: Greenwood Press.

Mulhern, F. J. and Padgett, D. T. 1995. The relationship between retail price promotions and regular price purchases. Journal of Marketing, 59(4): 83-90.

Murthi, B. P. S., Haruvy, E., and Zhang, H. 2007. The effect of variability in price on consumer brand choice. Review of Marketing Science, 5(1): 1-26.

Narasimhan, C., Neslin, S. A., and Sen, S. K. 1996. Promotional elasticities and category characteristics. Journal of Marketing, 60(2): 17-30.

Nunnally, J.C. 1978. Psychometric Theory, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Owen, S. V. and Froman, R. D. 1998. Uses and abuses of the analysis of covariance. Research in Nursing & Health, 21(6): 557-562.

Pallant, J. 2005. SPSS Survival Manual: A Step By Step Guide To Data Analysis Using SPSS For Windows Version 12, 2nd Edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Park, H., Lalwani, A. K., and Silvera, D. H. 2020. The impact of resource scarcity on price-quality judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(6): 1110-1124.

Peterson, R. A. and Wilson, W. R. 1985. Perceived risk and price reliance schema as price-perceived quality mediators. in Perceived quality: how consumers view stores and merchandise, Jacob Jacoby and Jerry C. Olson, eds. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books: 247-268.

Prakash, C., Yadav, R., and Kadyan, S. 2021. Effect of the price drop on customer's perceived evaluation across selected product categories. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 20(2): 204-210.

Prakash, D. and Spann, M. 2022. Dynamic pricing and reference price effects. Journal of Business Research, 152, 300-314.

Putler, D. S. 1992. Incorporating reference price effects into a theory of consumer choice. Marketing Science, 11(3): 287-309.

Raghubir, P. and Corfman, K. P. 1995. When do price promotions signal quality? The effect of dealing on perceived service quality. in NA-Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 22, eds. Frank R. Kardes and Mita Sujan, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research: 58-61.

Rao, A. R. and Monroe, K. B. 1989. The effect of price, brand name, and store name on buyers’ perceptions of product quality: An integrative review. Journal of Marketing Research, 26(3): 351-357.

Rao, A. R. and Sieben, W. A. 1992. The effect of prior knowledge on price acceptability and the type of information examined. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(2): 256-270.

Rao, V. R. 1984. Pricing research in marketing: The state of the art. Journal of Business, 57(1): S39-S60.

Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., and Müller, H. 2003. Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8(2): 23-74.

Scitovsky, T. 1944-45. Some consequences of the habit of judging quality by price. The Review of Economic Studies, 12(2): 100-105.

Shaddy, F., and Lee, L. 2020. Price promotions cause impatience. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(1): 118-133.

Sherif M, and Hovland CI. 1961. Social judgement: assimilation and contrast effects in communication and attitude change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Shirai, M., and Bettman, J. R. 2005. Consumer expectations concerning timing and depth of the next deal. Psychology & Marketing, 22(6): 457-472.

Sinha, I., and Smith, M. F. 2000. Consumers' perceptions of promotional framing of price. Psychology & Marketing, 17(3): 257-275.

Sorce, P. and Widrick, S. M. 1991. Individual differences in latitude of acceptable prices. NA-Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research: 802-805.

Stafford, J. E. and Enis, B. M. 1969. The price-quality relationship: An extension. Journal of Marketing Research, 6(4): 456-458.

Stevens, J. P. 2009. Applied Multivariate Statistics for The Social Sciences. Routledge.

Vanhuele, M. and Drèze, X. 2002. Measuring the price knowledge shoppers bring to the store. Journal of Marketing, 66(4): 72-85.

Völckner, F. and Hofmann, J. 2007. The price-perceived quality relationship: a meta-analytic review and assessment of its determinants. Marketing Letters, 18(3): 181-196.

Völckner, F. 2008. The dual role of price: decomposing consumers’ reactions to price. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(3): 359-377.

Walters, R. G. and MacKenzie, S. B. 1988. A structural equations analysis of the impact of price promotions on store performance. Journal of Marketing Research, 25(1): 51-63.

Winer, R. S. 1989. A multi-stage model of choice incorporating reference prices. Marketing Letters, 1(1): 27-36.

Yang, Z., Sun, S., Lalwani, A. K., and Janakiraman, N. 2019. How does consumers’ local or global identity influence price-perceived quality associations? The role of perceived quality variance. Journal of Marketing, 83(3): 145-162.

Zeithaml, V. A. 1988. Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3): 2-22.
Published
2024-05-02
How to Cite
Özcan ATILGAN, K., KANGAL, E. E., & TALASLIOĞLU, M. (2024). Examination of Consumers’ Perceived Quality and Willingness to Buy in the Context of Price Variability and Frequency of Price Change: A Study of Retail Products. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, 26(2), 165-183. Retrieved from https://journal.ugm.ac.id/v3/gamaijb/article/view/14786
Section
Articles