Money Talks: Perceived Advertising Expense and Expected Product Quality

Abstract

Does the perceived expense of a new product's advertising campaign influence expectations about the product's quality? This article conceptualizes the process by which perceived advertising expense acts as a cue to quality. Results from six experiments indicate that under some conditions, knowledge of cost-related campaign elements can evoke advertising expense inferences the influence quality predictions, and these inferences may be spontaneous. Copyright 1989 by the University of Chicago.