IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jomega/v34y2006i4p397-405.html

An experimental study of brand signal quality of products in an asymmetric information environment

Author

Listed:
  • Tsao, Hsiu-Yuan
  • Pitt, Leyland F.
  • Berthon, Pierre

Abstract

Previous research regarding the effectiveness of signalling via brand name has focused on when and how brand-building costs will be recovered in future profit. In contrast to such a seller-incentive perspective, this study examines how the buyer interprets the signal via brand name, the effectiveness of signalling via brand name in terms of buyer-value perspective, and how the buyer's reaction to the signal affects the seller's decision to adopt the signalling strategy. Signalling theory and concepts from consumer-based branding research are used to suggest how to evaluate the effectiveness of signalling via brand name in the context of the consumer market--a market in which information is asymmetric. Findings from online trading experiments, using the methodology of experimental economics, demonstrate that the function of brand fluctuates according to which market conditions prevail for brand and price, the extent of brand differentiation, and the magnitude of brand-building cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsao, Hsiu-Yuan & Pitt, Leyland F. & Berthon, Pierre, 2006. "An experimental study of brand signal quality of products in an asymmetric information environment," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 397-405, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jomega:v:34:y:2006:i:4:p:397-405
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-0483(05)00002-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hao Zhao, 2000. "Raising Awareness and Signaling Quality to Uninformed Consumers: A Price-Advertising Model," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 390-396, January.
    2. Miller, Ross M & Plott, Charles R, 1985. "Product Quality Signaling in Experimental Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(4), pages 837-872, July.
    3. Charles A. Holt & Roger Sherman, 1999. "Classroom Games: A Market for Lemons," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 205-214, Winter.
    4. Plott, Charles R, 1986. "Rational Choice in Experimental Markets," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 301-327, October.
    5. In-Koo Cho & David M. Kreps, 1987. "Signaling Games and Stable Equilibria," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(2), pages 179-221.
    6. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    7. Pitt, Leyland F. & Berthon, Pierre & Watson, Richard T. & Ewing, Michael, 2001. "Pricing strategy and the net," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 45-54.
    8. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Szõcs Attila, 2014. "Testing Brand Value Measurement Methods In A Random Coefficient Modeling Framework," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 1069-1074, July.
    2. Tilles, Paulo F.C. & Ferreira, Fernando F. & Francisco, Gerson & Pereira, Carlos de B. & Sarti, Flavia M., 2011. "A Markovian model market—Akerlof’s lemons and the asymmetry of information," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(13), pages 2562-2570.
    3. Remeikiene Rita, 2015. "Evaluation of Self-Employment Development Factors: Latvian Case," Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 27(1), pages 5-11, December.
    4. Nicolau, Juan L., 2012. "The effect of winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup on the tourism market value: The Spanish case," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 503-510.
    5. Martin POLÍVKA & David MARTINČÍK, 2014. "Measures ensuring the food quality on retail markets: experimental perspective," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 60(8), pages 343-352.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giorgio Coricelli & Luigi Luini, 1999. "Double Moral Hazard: an Experiment on Warranties," CEEL Working Papers 9901, Cognitive and Experimental Economics Laboratory, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    2. Dato, Simon & Grunewald, Andreas & Kräkel, Matthias & Müller, Daniel, 2016. "Asymmetric employer information, promotions, and the wage policy of firms," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 273-300.
    3. Dominiak, Adam & Lee, Dongwoo, 2023. "Testing rational hypotheses in signaling games," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Trevon D. Logan & Manisha Shah, 2013. "Face Value: Information and Signaling in an Illegal Market," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 79(3), pages 529-564, January.
    5. Yi Qian & Qiang Gong & Yuxin Chen, 2015. "Untangling Searchable and Experiential Quality Responses to Counterfeits," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 522-538, July.
    6. Mehmet Ekmekci & Nenad Kos, 2020. "Signaling Covertly Acquired Information," Working Papers 658, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    7. Carlyle Farrell & Gervan Fearon, 2005. "Renting Goodwill in International Marketing Channels: An Analysis of Pricing Strategies and Bargaining Power," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(3), pages 285-296, September.
    8. Fabrice Etilé & Sabrina Teyssier, 2012. "Signaling Corporate Social Responsibility: Third-Party Certification vs. Brands," PSE Working Papers halshs-00736551, HAL.
    9. M. Billur Akdeniz & Roger J. Calantone, 2017. "A longitudinal examination of the impact of quality perception gap on brand performance in the US Automotive Industry," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 43-57, March.
    10. Manuel Adelino & Kristopher Gerardi & Barney Hartman-Glaser, 2016. "Are Lemons Sold First? Dynamic Signaling in the Mortgage Market," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2016-8, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    11. Puelz, Robert & Snow, Arthur, 1994. "Evidence on Adverse Selection: Equilibrium Signaling and Cross-Subsidization in the Insurance Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(2), pages 236-257, April.
    12. Jorge M. Streb, 2006. "Job market signals and signs," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 326, Universidad del CEMA.
    13. Soudipta Chakraborty & Robert Swinney, 2021. "Signaling to the Crowd: Private Quality Information and Rewards-Based Crowdfunding," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 155-169, 1-2.
    14. Peterson, Steven P., 1996. "Some experimental evidence on the efficiency of dividend signaling in resolving information asymmetries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 373-388, May.
    15. Kübler, Dorothea & Müller, Wieland & Normann, Hans-Theo, 2008. "Job-market signaling and screening: An experimental comparison," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 219-236, September.
    16. Sexton, Richard J., 1991. "Game Theory: A Review With Applications To Vertical Control In Agricultural Markets," Working Papers 225865, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    17. Mailath, George J. & Nöldeke, Georg, 2006. "Extreme Adverse Selection, Competitive Pricing, and Market Breakdown," Working papers 2006/09, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    18. Mailath, George J. & Nöldeke, Georg, 2008. "Does competitive pricing cause market breakdown under extreme adverse selection?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 97-125, May.
    19. Brendan Daley & Brett Green, 2012. "Waiting for News in the Market for Lemons," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(4), pages 1433-1504, July.
    20. Stefano Ficco, 2004. "Information Overload in Monopsony Markets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-082/1, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jomega:v:34:y:2006:i:4:p:397-405. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/375/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.