Price and quality

Discussion in 'Economics & Trade' started by pjohns, May 3, 2020.

  1. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    Has anyone ever noticed how little correlation--if any at all--there is between price and quality (and add features, in those instances in which that applies)?

    As an example, the latest issue of Consumer Reports gives a slightly higher rating (92, vis-a-vis 90) to a single-dose dishwasher detergent that costs just 10 cents per load, versus one that costs 34 cents per load.

    And no, cost is not taken into account when giving these ratings. Just quality.

    By the way, this is not a one-off sort of thing. Just about every month, CR has something of the same sort.

    Of course, if the comparison is within the same brand, this principle is probably not applicable.

    Where competing brands are concerned, however, the old saw about "getting what you pay for" does not seem to be correct.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Reiver

    Reiver Well-Known Member

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    The Pepsi Challenge provides the answer. In blind experiments pepsi wins; in non-blind experiments coca cola wins. Adopting neuroscience, we see how branding impacts on stimuli. Essentially our preferences are endogenous. Polite language for trained monkeys.
     
  3. Idahojunebug77

    Idahojunebug77 Well-Known Member

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    I prefer a Royal Crown cola, blind or no blind test. Pair it with some Crown Royal and it is not even a contest.
     
  4. Reiver

    Reiver Well-Known Member

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    Booze drinkers are very particular. Nothing more anal than a gin fan going off on one over their favourite tonic. Of course, even her, branding is about generating a preferred stimuli. We've seen that what with whiskey, where price and quantity can be increased without improving taste.
     
  5. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    I have some in depth experience with this particular post. About a half decade ago I needed a new dishwasher and as part of my research into it, I bought a one year script to CR just to access their stuff on dishwashers. I concluded that the CR stuff was bogus propaganda clearly funded by select companies. I can't remember all of the details to support this assertion. The major ones however were comparing CR reports of quality against Lowes and Home Depots product reviews. After reading I guess maybe three thousand words over maybe 6 websites I finally pulled the trigger on a Kitchen Aid model that turned out to be a great dishwasher....

    CR is bogus....
     
  6. Reiver

    Reiver Well-Known Member

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    Asymmetric information, and how that can lead to poor purchase, not quite the same as branding effects mind you. The interesting aspect is how online shopping has actually made information flows more problematic.
     
  7. HonestJoe

    HonestJoe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I don't think it's anything like that straight forwards.

    There is a massive variety of situations in different fields, products, brands and locations. There is certainly a major element of "big brands" selling on the basis of the image rather than quality of the product, which can often be literally the same as cheaper alternatives. On the other hand, there is also a lot of cheaper and budget brands who achieve lower prices with lower quality in one way or another. Whether the lower quality is significant will depends very much on customer preference, those in many cases we can't easily tell.

    There are all sorts of other marketing tricks to complicate the situation too, with products promoting as made in country, healthy, economical or environmentally friendly (whether than is true, false or somewhere between) or promoted by a celebrity (either for money or because they truly value the product). Anything parents buy for children doubles the complexity too, as does anything commonly bought as a gift.

    The bottom line from the aspect you raise is that we shouldn't assume a higher price means a better product but nor should we assume it doesn't.

    Of course, that's just my opinion and you're getting it for free. :cool:
     
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  8. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    For openers, I am unsure as to just why you would consider Lowe's and Home Depot to be entirely correct in their reviews, but Consumer Reports to be wrong.

    Perhaps it is because you purchased a Kitchen Aid dishwasher, and it turned out to be "great."

    I would certainly not deny your experience.

    But (and I am assuming that CR must have given a fairly low rating to this dishwasher) did you notice how they break down their overall rating? (It probably includes cleaning ability; the absence of spotting on glasses; the length of a cleaning cycle; etc.)

    Is it possible that your Kitchen Aid dishwasher excels in some of these areas--the ones that you really care about--but not in all of them?
     
  9. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    Getting a kitchen appliance of quality these days is difficult at any price point it seems to me. Maybe the $10k plus appliances are more reliable but I am not wealthy enough to afford them.

    It's been a long while since I did the dishwasher research. The thing that I noticed with respect to CR was that its reviews did not match the online reviews I found at Lowe's and Home Depot and maybe a couple of other sites I found. I shouldn't have said that the CR stuff was "clearly funded by select companies", but there was enough of a disconnect between individuals' independent experiences according to lots of reviews, versus what CR reported.

    As I recall, I think that I browsed through CR and found a make and model that looked pretty good, only to find a lot of reviews that were not good at all. So then I went back to CR and tried another and found a similar result. So then I reversed the process and instead started looking at dishwashers from retailers with the highest number of quality reviews and then seeing what CR had to say about them. This didn't work out at all because CR had no reviews for many of these. So that made me question the method CR used to select what stuff they reviewed and it occurred to me that maybe CR was supply side driven, so to speak.....

    Additionally, I found more detailed reviews on the retail website comments than were in CR, so I decided that CR is not of much value. The make and model I ended going for as best I recall wasn't covered by a CR review.

    There are now a days literally about an infinite number of demand side actual first hand consumer reports available for free - so why do you still use CR?
     
  10. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    Interestingly enough, the June 2020 issue of CR rates some 18" compact dishwashers. It tested for "[h]ow well a model's normal cycle cleans a full load of dishes with baked-on food, how thoroughly a model dries items, noise, and more."
     
  11. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    That really does not surprise me.

    In the latest issue of Consumer Reports, just five models of dishwashers were reviewed.

    Although CR definitely leans to the left (as is indicated by its editorials), I do trust their reviews. (I simply cannot imagine that they might have anything to gain by corrupting them.)
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2020
  12. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    No worries mate, you do you and I'll do me, but CR makes no sense to me.

    I've tried to explain in sufficient detail my experience using CR to research one product and why I cannot understand why you or anyone else would continue to subscribe.

    I cannot quite understand how you cannot imagine that in addition to their income from subscriptions, they may also be charging suppliers/manufacturers to have their product featured in a review. Do you know for a fact this is not the case?
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2020
  13. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    I suppose that it is possible--theoretically, at least.

    But just why should I be asked to prove a negative?
     
  14. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    Please do not reassert my question as asking you to prove a negative. I am trying to point out to you that your interest in CR in the year 2020 is unfounded, that is all. My question to you regards the fundamental question of how CR selects the items for their reviews. Your response has apparently been, as best as my reading comprehension enables me to understand your position, is that you like CR and that's that.

    Lay On McDuff, And Damned Be He Cry, Hold, Enough.....

    FFS, it's a dead rag. Search Amazon for reviews of Cascade dishwasher packets or any other stuff and you'll have better luck than focusing on the questionable selections offered to you by CR.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2020
  15. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    That is precisely what you are doing.

    You asserted that Consumer Reports "may also be charging suppliers/manufacturers to have their product featured in a review," and then asked, "Do you know for a fact this is not the case?"

    That is a pretty good example of asking someone to prove a negative.

    Perhaps it is "dead" to you.

    But it does seem quite strange that you would be crusading to ensure that it is also "dead" to the rest of us...
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2020
  16. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    Hardly my friend, I am merely attempting to educate you to the fact that in this day and age the true consumer reports are ubiquitous and freely available online.

    By what criteria then did CR select these five models? Has the question not previously occurred to you?
     
  17. drluggit

    drluggit Well-Known Member

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    As soon as you mentioned consumer reports you lost your credibility....
     
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  18. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    Well I'll be damned, we agree on something. hahaha....
     
  19. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    I do not know you well enough to be your "friend."

    Please do not patronize me.

    Moreover, do these online reports include those of commonly used household items (such as soaps and detergents)--or only of big-ticket items?

    I have no idea.

    And why should I even care?
     
  20. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    You might wish to elucidate.
     
  21. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    Folks leave online reviews for everything! Go to Walmart.com or Amazon.com for example and under the product description you will see the number of stars and the number of reviews. Click on the number of reviews and voila - free consumer reports....

    The reason you or anyone else who chooses to rely on CR should care about how & why they select which products they review seems to me to be self-explanatory.
     
  22. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    These, apparently, are reviews from users. And I would prefer reviews from professional testers.

    If you would prefer the former, that is of absolutely no consequence to me.

    Why, on the other hand, would you be so very upset if I prefer the latter?
     
  23. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Sounds legit.

    I tend to avoid products that I see advertised on TV without even trying them because I hate commercials so much. Or, I used to before I got rid of cable.
     
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  24. Grey Matter

    Grey Matter Well-Known Member Donor

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    What makes you think I'm upset? Like I said earlier, you do you and I'll do me, pjohns. Another way of looking at the difference between the two is that the online retail reviews are from actual consumers whereas the CR reviews are from a commercial advertising agency.
     
  25. pjohns

    pjohns Well-Known Member

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    You certainly would appear to be.

    When one person stalks another online, only to make pointed comments (and thereby disrupt the thread), that person is normally known as a troll.

    You might wish to reflect upon whether that may be a reasonable description of you...
     
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