In 1987, the Journal of Real Estate Research published an article entitled “Pricing Strategies and Residential Property Selling Prices,” which presented evidence showing that the pricing strategies used for residential properties actually colored the perceptions of buyers regarding the quality and the worth of the property in question. This effect, called price influence, is based on the idea that consumers often base their assumptions about quality and worth on the listed price of an object. For instance, consumers exhibit a trait consumer researchers call “price reliance.” This is the tendency to believe that things that cost more are worth more, and that the reverse is true as well. Even for informed buyers, price is an indicator of quality. The article cited evidence that this is especially true for less frequent purchases and high-value items, like automobiles and real estate, and stated that within certain “latitudes of acceptance” price increases correlated with consumer perceptions of higher quality. This was partially attributed to a dearth of applicable knowledge on the part of buyers, who often lack specific knowledge of home values and comparable pricing for similar homes. Due to their lack of knowledge, price becomes an important indicator of worth for both parties.

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