Price and brand name as indicators of quality dimensions for consumer durables

Delivering quality products requires an understanding of the critical dimen sions and cues that consumers use to judge quality. To that end, this artic le addresses two-fundamental research issues. Using a qualitative study, th e authors first develop a generalizable typology of quality dimensions for durable goods that includes ease of use, versatility, durability, serviceab ility, performance, and prestige. Second, the authors conduct a process-tra cing laboratory experiment to examine how key marketing variables-price, br and name, and product attributes-affect consumers' judgment processes and i nferences about how products perform on the six quality dimensions. Results of the experiment indicate that consumers use price and brand name differe ntly to judge the quality dimensions, searching for price and brand name mu ch more frequently when evaluating prestige than when evaluating any other quality dimension. Results suggest that managers must determine the relevan t quality dimensions for a product category and the cues that ave salient f or judging those dimensions.