High Status Brands in Low Status Stores, and Vice Versa: Which Status Object Drives Price Premium?

Abstract

In a number of purchasing situations, consumers are likely to base their value judgment on a combination of the product brand status and the store status. Hence, for owners of the product brand and the store it is important to isolate the status object (product or store) that primarily drives value. In a 2x2 factorial experiment we test this question, and find that consumer willingness to pay is influenced by product and store status, and that these interact in the explanation of value (when measured in terms of willingness to pay).