Factors that Alter the Perceived Quality of Products - Essay Example

? Factors that Alter the Perceived Quality of Products Factors that Alter the Perceived Quality of Products Most people consider themselves to be making smart decisions when they choose to purchase products of high value, particularly when they can find them at a discounted price. This is never true in reality though. Not only are consumers bombarded with overwhelming decision-making scenarios on a constant basis, numerous other considerations come into play before they determine which product they want to buy including the amount of time they have to shop, the time they have available between other activities, and their other daily stresses and concerns. Add the constant deluge of sales pitches, different combinations of benefits, complicated terms of service, fluctuating prices, and highly persuasive, psychologically driven promotional messages and consumers' perception of product quality is highly compromised. A great deal of research has gone into determining just how consumers deal with it all in order to come to any form of buying decision. These studies have discovered that a great deal of consumer decisions are based on a weighted measure between perceived quality, current need, and other emotional factors (Morris & Morris, 1990). While it is not possible for marketers to control consumers' current needs, there are several ways in which understanding those other emotional factors can help marketers improve perceived quality of products. Perceived quality of a product is very important in consumer buying decisions and will have an effect on how much can be charged for the product as well as where the product should be placed, how it should be packaged, and what types of consumers will be likely to purchase it. When consumers perceive a brand to have a high quality, the brand is able to engage in reverse discounting - reducing the price of an already high-priced product to a point that is still well within the profit margin. Understanding of how much a product is worth is determined to a great degree by the eye of the consumer. This perception can be introduced and maintained by the marketer through the application of a high price tag and sometimes restricted market access. This marketing practice establishes the product as being rare and of high quality, encouraging consumers to pay more in order to improve their personal status within a similarly educated society (Passewitz, 2005). Continued feelings of perceived quality can be enhanced without prohibitively pricing the product out of the market by introducing value bundling. By bundling complimentary products together and offering them at a 'discounted' rate, consumers are encouraged to consider the probable cost of the individual pieces and perceive a good deal (Evoy, 1999). However, this method of manipulating perception of quality has its own bundle of concerns. Different approaches taken in research on this topic include examinations of price, the decision-making process, motivation, and application of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Price Studies into how price can be used to influence consumers' perception of product quality have identified two major strategies (Morris & Morris, 1990). Consumers see the low prices of bargain brands and assume that the strategy is to sell in bulk. The assumption is the products are of inferior quality - serviceable but not necessarily built to last. 'Quality' is thus defined as durability and not mass produced as opposed to 'value' which is defined as how many (in quantity or benefits) can one get for how few pounds. When the goal is instead to emphasize the high quality of the product, the competition is focused on being the highest priced on the market (Morris & Morris, 1990). To justify the additional expense, marketers bring attention to the higher than average quality of materials used and other attention to detail. In this way, high end marketers build off of the preconceived ideas of quality established by low end marketers (that 'quality' is defined as an indication of durability and not mass produced) at the same time that they contradict ideas of value. Under this model, 'value' is redefined as the quality of the materials used and incorporates the sense of satisfaction gained and the social status achieved. Society has created some general guidelines consumers follow when developing their perception of a product's quality based on price. In marketing terms, these are called price points. Because of the denominations of printed currency, there are certain price points at which people become more likely to buy (Evoy, 1999). Anything that comes in under three digits will be preferable to something over that amount, which may also be the tipping point before discussing it with the spouse in many households (Teten & Allen, 2005). It is due to this research that we see prices such as ?38.97 or ?97.03. However, establishing price points in this way has become another indicator of a bargain store in the minds of consumers (Teten & Allen, 2005). High quality shops tend to price in whole dollar amounts. Of deeper concern, however, is what this research really shows us - that consumers are making their decisions based on emotion first and rational thought second. Consumers are increasingly aware of the psychological strategies of pricing and becoming desensitized to its emotional pulls. Armed with background knowledge, they behave in a more judicious manner when rating the quality of the products they're considering. They know that using pricing alone to establish and maintain the perceived quality of the product can backfire in many ways. On the high end, consumers can revolt if the product fails to meet performance expectations. On the low end, prices on raw materials or production processes may increase but public perception of quality may make raising the product price very difficult. Decision-making The personal decision-making process also has an effect on perception of product quality. Most people don't actually need the things they buy, but they've reached a point at which they believe that product would be beneficial to them. The individual then conducts an internal search of what they know about potential solutions (Fournier & Mick, 1999). This can include personal experience and promotional appeals. Following this internal search is the external search. According to Ritchins (1997), this search is much more physical and thus more plausible for many consumers. In this stage, the consumer is actively seeking information about a product. As with the internal search, this process may take seconds or months. Price comparisons are made from store to store, brand to brand, and product to product helping the consumer to place the brand and product within a hierarchy of quality perception. Only once the consumer has completed these two stages do they make a purchase. However, this is not the end of the decision-making process. Most consumers will continue to withhold full judgment of the product until they have had a chance to get it home. This post purchase evaluation of the product will result in the consumer's final determination of the product quality. Thus, the decision-making process is summed up as need recognition, search for information, alternative evaluation, purchase, and outcome evaluation (Ritchins, 1997). When the consumer feels they have acquired a quality product at a worthwhile price, they retain a solid sense of satisfaction and perceived quality of the product and brand is increased. If the consumer gets home and discovers that they did not get all the benefits they anticipated or becomes otherwise dissatisfied with the product without appropriate compensation from the brand, perception of quality will be significantly reduced (Yi, 1990). Clearly, consumer's perception of quality is not always based on rational evaluations of performance for price (Westbrook & Reilly, 1983) and we are reminded of the highly emotional nature of quality perception. Motivation Several studies indicate consumers make purchases based on how they expect the product to make them feel (Oliver, 1996), illustrating how important it is to understand motivations for purchase as a factor contributing to perceptions of product quality. Price is, of course, one element of motivation as consumers derive a sense of superiority or victory upon acquiring a product at a perceived bargain. However, if the decision-making process has not been sufficiently considered, the consumer may quickly experience buyer's remorse because the purchase does not achieve all of its goal thus reducing rather than increasing the perception of quality (Morris & Morris, 1990).. Rather than actual materials used or the product's ability to complete a task, one of the primary motivators for consumers in making a purchase is the motivation of status. In today's consumer culture, the products and brands one uses has the ability to associate the individual with a specific modern day clan or socio-economic group. According to Charles, Hurst and Roussanov (2009), the overwhelming desire for social status is the most influential factor among social motives for consumer shopping. Roy and Chau (2011) demonstrate in their study of perceptions of quality when buying locally versus buying globally how much perceptions of product quality are linked to status-seeking motivations. Despite the perception that only upper class people can purchase Armani suits and thus the suits and the people wearing them are perceived as being of high quality, the reality is that status-seeking consumption occurs whether the person is in the target class or not (O'Cass & Frost, 2002). Whether they can afford the clothes or not, people of lower status will save and sacrifice in order to make purchases of products that they perceive to be of high quality as a means of gaining the 'correct' associations with a higher social position. This status element is particularly important among younger people as well, as consuming the 'right' products is essential in creating an identity, demonstrating accomplishment, or demanding recognition (Elliot, 1997). However, this, too, can be deceiving. Consumers make decisions on product quality based on how many attributes of the product correlate with their own individual values and beliefs. Greater correlation between product and individual values equals greater perception of quality. Even when making purchases or determining product quality for status-seeking motivations, consumers will define what type of status they are seeking. As the study by Roy and Chau (2001) shows, some consumers will desire a high social status among people who travel or who are more worldly. These people will associate greater quality with global brands. Other consumers with attribute a high social status to people with a strong connection and significance to the region and will place higher quality on the products and brands that those people use or that support the community that those people support. While one person may determine that a gold chain is of much higher quality than a braided cord, because of where they place their values, another person may view the same two items in reverse order of quality. The only way to understand the probable motivations of the consumers for a given product and thus predict their perceptions of quality is to study the target market and understand what drives them personally. Aligning the product offerings, value bundles, brand offerings, and marketing messages with these values will significantly improve that market's perception of product quality even without making any changes to the product itself. Elaboration likelihood model(ELM) Once motivations and the decision-making process of the target market are understood and a generalized pricing structure has been established, marketers can employ the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) developed by Petty and Cacioppo (1986) to guide persuasive influence of consumers' perceptions of product quality. This technique strives to increase the likelihood that an advertising message will stick in the minds of consumers by targeting their attitude, motivations, and ability or approach to process information. It recognizes that motivation and ability to process information cannot be changed, but attitude may be influenced through either a direct appeal to objective reasoning or through peripheral cues that provide emotional guidance and connections (Griffin, 2012). When the consumer's attitudes are understood, elaborations can be specifically targeted to the given situation by taking either an objective or a biased approach. For example, focusing on the vehicle's reliability to a mature audience or the sporty look to the younger audience, pointing to third party testing of safety performance or having a celebrity talk about its classy lines. Elaborations can also be have either positive or negative results, depending on when the message reaches the audience, recent events, and any number of other variables. In general, it has been discovered that people who have preconceptions about a given topic are more difficult to influence than those who are open to new information based on facts and evidence. As already hinted above, the ELM presents two routes of influence - central and peripheral. The central route could also be thought of as the direct route. It appeals to the rational thought cycle and encourages the consumer to think about the evidence and rationale behind why the consumer should change their attitude regarding the product in question. It presents facts, examples, comparisons, and claims. While this is done to some extent in the text of the message, it is also generally reinforced in the imagery used. If the car is supposed to be safe, the message would provide the third party analysis results and the imagery would show how the car is able to stop just in time to avoid accident and injury if the driver is not paying attention. If it also features a mother driving with her young teens, engaged in a clearly pleasant conversation until they realize their almost disaster, then it is also applying to the cognitive emotions, communicating to the parent receiving the message that this car is just the right car to purchase for their first-time driver. These appeals to the intellect encourage a cognitive response to the message and give consumers the impression that they have carefully considered the merits of the product. As effective as this method may be to influence the attitudes of consumers when those consumers have the ability and motivation to engage with the content at the cognitive level. The other route to influencing consumers' perception of product quality is peripheral. This approach comes at the consumer from an angle rather than direct. It relies on external characteristics of the message to achieve results. If the consumer perceives the source of a message to be reliable - the use of a third party testing agency helps - and if it is well-constructed on accurate research and understanding of the market, it will be more convincing (Petty & Cacioppo,1986). In the above example of the car promotion, the message would be more convincing if it were presented by an outside reviewer, it may even be capable of receiving a favorable response from someone who had a different opinion before the message was received. Other external characteristics can include presentation quality, attractiveness, the stickiness of the slogan, or the frequency of repetition. During their study, Petty and Cacioppo (1986) identified the peripheral route as a kind of mental shortcut through the mind of the consumer that encourages them to accept or reject a message based on external cues without having to expend the mental energy of cognitive processing. The most common elements used for this type of message delivery include rewards such as food, sex, or money, or make social appeals through celebrities, general likability, humor, or popularly acknowledged expertise in a topic. An example of this last element could by Captain Kirk from the Star Trek's Enterprise advocating the most technological way to travel in today's world. Although it's a relatively weak route to changing opinion, it can be effective in weakening a previously held position, making the consumer more open to the central approach. Summary What we know is that consumers' perceptions of product quality are very important to product success. We know that how consumers form their perceptions of product quality is highly complex and depends on a number of factors that the marketer has little or no control over. Some factors that can be influenced are psychological attitudes of the consumer as a result of price structure and perceptions of value, providing direction during the decision-making process, and understanding and appealing to the consumers' motivations. People tend to have the same attitudes regarding price structure for various products, with a greater tendency to be willing to purchase when price points and odd numbers are used, but with a similar understanding that products with these incentives are generally on the lower end of the quality scale. Greater quality is associated with products that use whole number pricing and which are priced at the top end of the range for that product type, but these products must provide additional focus on redefining common conceptions of value. Rather than allowing it to remain defined as low priced, high end marketers must redefine value as consisting of quality materials and other appeals to the values of the target consumer base. We know decision making is strongly variable among consumers and from one situation to another, but that those who engage more fully in the process are more easily influenced by the central route of ELM marketing. What is most important to know is that a great deal of product quality perception is based on the degree to which the product manages to satisfy the true motivations of the consumers when making the decision to purchase. Recommendations for marketers Marketers working on creating a product offering or message should take these various factors into account. To shape or change attitudes or perceptions about the quality of a product when the product itself will not be changed, it is first necessary to understand the true motivations of consumers who would purchase the products. From the available research, we know social status is a very common primary motivation, but there are many others. These are driven by the individual consumer's passions and values in life, so understanding motivations means understanding lifestyles, service/community activities, and hobbies or interests. Once these aspects of the target audience are understood, messaging can be created that uses a central or peripheral approach to messaging as the product is released with a strategic pricing structure. References Charles, K.K., Hurst, E. & Roussanov, N. (2009). "Conspicuous consumption and race." Quarterly Journal of Economics. V. 124, N. 2, 425-67. Elliot, R. (1997). "Existential consumption and irrational desire." European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 34, N. 4, 285-96. Evoy, K. (1999). Make Your Site Sell: The Psychology of Pricing. Hudson Heights, Quebec, Canada: Goodbytes Information Products. Fournier, S. & Mick, D.G. (October 1999). “Rediscovering Satisfaction.” Journal of Marketing. Vol. 63, N. 4, 5-23. Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look at Communication Theory. 8th ed. 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