Does Price Promotion Hurt Products’ Perceived Quality? The Role of Attribute Alignability

Abstract

Purpose: Previous literature shows that a price promotion serves as a negative cue of product quality especially when consumers have no additional information about the product's other attributes. In this research, we explore how the effect of price promotions on consumers' perceptions of product quality changes depending on their ability to compare promoted product attributes with competitive products' attributes. Research design, data and methodology: Specifically, we use a series of scenario-based lab experiments using different types of products and explore if attribute alignability among competing products in a consumer's choice set influences consumers' ability to compare the product attributes and perceived quality. Results: Our study findings show that high attribute alignability among products makes consumers easier to compare the product attributes and thereby focus more on non-price information than price information. We also show that attribute alignability serves as a moderator and decreases perceived quality when the promotion level is higher. Therefore, the attribute alignability weakens the negative impact of a price promotion on consumers' perceived product quality. Conclusions: Our study findings provide new insights on how to implement price promotion strategies while keeping products' perceived quality, by considering the product's relationships with competing products in a choice set.