Product Quality Assessment by Consumers — the Role of Product Information
| Date | 01 March 1983 |
| Pages | 25-31 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057308 |
| Published date | 01 March 1983 |
| Author | J.M.F. Box |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Product Quality
Assessment
by Consumers —
the Role of Product
Information
by J.M.F. Box
Delft University of Technology
Introduction
Quality is a somewhat diffuse concept. Everybody knows
more or less what is meant by it, but a precise definition of
quality is more difficult to establish. "Quality" comes from
the Latin word qualitas, which means properties or at-
tributes. In the marketing terminology, quality is defined
as:
the degree to which a product fulfils its function, given
the needs of the consumer [1]. Looking at the number of
functions a product is expected to
fulfil,
it is possible to
discern a varying amount of sub-qualities which can be
divided into functional and psychological qualities. The
functional qualities consist of properties of the material,
workmanship and of the technical and economic nature.
These we call the "objective" characteristics of the pro-
duct. The psychological qualities, such as beauty, sport-
smanship, prestige, are formed by the symbolic meaning
the consumer associates with the product. These are
"subjective" characteristics [2].
Do however all these different forms of product qualities
belong to the concept of quality, as the consumer
understands it? Consumer-research [3] shows that this is
not so. In common-sense language, "quality" is not as all-
embracing as in the marketing terminology. It appears that
the consumer considers only the functional properties as
quality-related, and does not regard psychological proper-
ties as product quality properties. This difference in
opi-
nion about what is product quality is an important cause of
friction between marketing and consumer(ism).
It explains much of the criticism on advertising which, by
and large, gives information about psychological proper-
ties of the product which the consumer regards as less im-
portant. The consumer's understanding of the quality
con-
cept corresponds to a great extent with the product pro-
perties investigated by consumer organisations in their
comparative tests, in which the subjective properties, such
as style, taste, and social-psychological connotations are
not assessed.
The author acknowledges the help of Mrs J. Kopecka and J. Stroosnier
who contributed in the preparation of this article.
The quality concept is also time-related. One can see, for
example, in publications of consumer organisations that
aspects such as product durability, energy consumption,
depletion of natural resources and other environmental
aspects are increasingly seen as part of the product's func-
tional properties. This reflects the changing expectations
of consumers vis-a-vis the product they purchase: the
societal consequences have been added to the user's re-
quirements and functional properties in the overall
con-
sumer's assessment of the product
Problems of Quality Assessment
Consumers perceive assessing the quality of products
when choosing and buying consumer durables as one of
the biggest problems they have to cope with in the market-
place[4].
Wimmer [3] has noticed that consumers prefer to
assess product quality on the basis of their own experience
and knowledge. This, however, proves less and less possi-
ble,
especially in the area of consumer durables. In the
case of food products, which the consumer buys frequent-
ly, there is much more opportunity to experience different
brands at first hand. Durables, however, are purchased
only a few times during a lifetime, so it makes much less
sense to rely on one's own experience.
The consumer considers only
the functional properties as
quality related
The steady stream of new products, increasing complexity
and the use of new materials are all factors which make the
recently acquired quality assessment worthless within a
short period of time. In addition to this, the consumer has
in the case of consumer durables only limited possibilities
to base his product quality evaluation on direct perception
and everyday experience. Earlier we mentioned four func-
tional qualities, namely:
(1) Material quality (e.g. chemical and physical proper-
ties);
(2) Workmanship (e.g. strength of assemblage, preci-
sion of finishing);
(3) Functional quality (e.g. engine power, colour
fastness of textiles);
(4) Economical quality (e.g. running costs, product
lifetime).
Of these, only a few aspects can be determined Before the
purchase through our own perception. This being the
case,
the consumer has to depend on other sources and
on quality indicators for information about the quality of
durables.
IMDS • MARCH/APRIL
•
1983 25
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