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High Price Raises Perception of Quality

Written by: Joe Crisara

Article Overview: In an article in the January 2008 Economist magazine, a study was cited that was done by Dr. Antonio Rangel of the California Institute of Technology. Rangel found that if people are told a wine that they are tasting is expensive, the perception in their brain evolves to increase the quality of the wine they had consumed based on nothing other than higher price meaning a higher quality.

High Price Raises Perception of Quality

In an article in the January 2008 Economist magazine, a study was cited that was done by Dr. Antonio Rangel of the California Institute of Technology. Rangel found that if people are told a wine that they are tasting is expensive, the perception in their brain evolves to increase the quality of the wine they had consumed based on nothing other than higher price meaning a higher quality.

In the Economist article, it stated that Dr. Rangel gave his volunteers sips of what he said were five different wines made from cabernet sauvignon grapes, priced at between $5 and $90 a bottle. He told each of them the price of the wine in question as he did so. Except, of course, that he was fibbing. He actually used only three wines. He served up two of them twice at different prices.

When asked which glass tasted better, they chose the higher priced one as tasting better than the cheaper one. But this is only opinion. How do they really know if the brain has perceived a higher quality? One might ask.

The article went on to say that Dr Rangel came to this conclusion by scanning the brains of 20 volunteers while giving them sips of wine. He used a trick called functional magnetic-resonance imaging, which can detect changes in the blood flow in parts of the brain that correspond to increased mental activity. He looked in particular at the activity of the medial orbit frontal cortex. This is an area of the brain that previous experiments have shown is responsible for registering pleasant experiences.

The results of the study showed that the parts of the brain associated with pleasure were stimulated more by the wines thought to be higher priced (Remember, they were actually the same wines). This wasn't just novices that made this judgment. Experienced wine connoisseurs were tested as well as everyday drinkers.

I think many of us have instinctively known this for years. But in this study it is proven once and for all by hard science. Essentially the finding were that higher prices have a real impact on perceived quality (which will then influence sales) rather than people just saying they think its better (which will not).

My interpretation is that the study shows that lacking hard definitive information about the quality of a product, the consumer searches for other sources of information to determine the quality of one thing over another. In this case, the price of the product itself creates the real perception of higher quality. Are you a quality contractor? Then price yourself like one.

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Article Tags: antonio rangel, blood flow, brains, cabernet sauvignon grapes, california institute of technology, dr antonio, economist magazine, frontal cortex, functional magnetic resonance, functional magnetic resonance imaging, hard science, institute of technology, judgment, magnetic resonance imaging, orbit, parts of the brain, perception, rea, wine connoisseurs, wines



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