Cross‐cultural Effects of Price on Perceived Product Quality Available to Purchase

Examines the relationship between the price cue and buyers′perceptions of product quality in a cross‐cultural environment: Poland and Sweden are chosen to explore relationships in the construct between the newly emerging free market economies in Eastern Europe and traditional market economies. Hypothesizes that the price cue will have a significant effect on the perceived quality of frequently purchased consumer products. Consumer taste tests were conducted in both cultures using ice cream as the product at three price levels: no significant relationship was found between the stated price of the product and perceived product quality in either country. However, large differences are found in the level of quality perceived by different age cohorts in Poland. Pre‐adolescent subjects consistently ranked the quality of all samples above their older cohorts.