Perceived Value

2.4.1 Definition of Perceived Value

In the consumption process, consumers make purchase decisions depending on their perceived value (Cronin et al., 2000). The perceived value would change according to consumer’s knowledge and experience. The higher value the customer perceived, the greater possibility it has that his behavioral intention would be impacted.

Dodds and Monroe (1985) proposed that perceived value is related to price and quality of product, and purchase experience. Zeithaml (1988) mentioned that perceived value is an overall assessment which consumers not only measure their “gain” and “payment”

from products, but also product performance to get. He also gave perceived value four definitions. First, perceived value is a lower price. As far as consumers’ concern, they would feel higher perceived value when they have discounts or coupons. Second, perceived value is what a person wants to gain form products. What benefits consumers obtain from products would be turned into their satisfaction. Third, perceived value is a comparison between payment and quality of products. Lastly, perceived value is the comparison with payment and attainment.

In addition, Holbrook (1994) defined perceived value as the experience of interactive and relative personal preference. First, perceived value is a kind of preference, influenced by individual interests and love. Second, perceived value contains some interaction among things, which refer to products, service or staff. Third,

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perceived value is related to the individual evaluation. Lastly, perceived value is concerned to experience, which means the value is perceived after an individual use the product or service. Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon (2002) have proposed a framework of experienced value and classify into four categories. The first is

‘consumers return on investment’ (CROI). Consumers take reward that they can obtain from time costs, investment value, and expectation, but not using the actual transaction price as to judge the value. It is considered the efficiency and economic considerations.

The second is ‘service excellence.’ The reaction of consumers to service and marketing is mainly from consumers’ purchase experience of products and service. The third,

‘aesthetics,’ concludes design, atmosphere, visual appeal, and feeling for beauty, which is examined by visual perception. The last is ‘playfulness.’ When consumers are experiencing products or service, they would feel pleasure and temporarily escaping from the real world. It takes escaping from reality and imagination as measurement.

Due to prior researches with different perceptions, there are many definitions and explanation of perceived value. First, perceived value is subjective and what consumers are aware. Second, the perceived value that consumer identify is transaction between rewards and payment. Third, perceived value is formed through assessment. Perceived value is a long-term influence on consumer behavior, and it would turn into a kind of concept or perception in their mind, especially experiential value, the basis of consumer reviews. By and large, perceived value is more abstract than quality and service because it involves subjective feelings and past experience, which would become the subject value for the next time consumption.

2.4.2 Measurement of Perceived Value

The way of measuring the perceived value is dependent on each consumer‘s rule

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and perception. Some consumers experience the value with lower price, so the value is measured by money. Some other consumers rewards the value by product quality and product price. To measure perceived value of products or service, Zeithaml (1988) posits four propositions to measure perceived value. First is ‘value is low price.’

Customers feel the value as they can use coupon or the product is on sale. The second is ‘value is whatever I want in a product.’ The benefits consumers received from the products as the most important components of value. The third is ‘value is the quality I get for the price I pay.’ It is a trade-off between the price and the quality. Lastly, ‘value is what I get for what I give,’ which means that value is what consumers are paying for what they are getting, even more.

According to Zeithaml’s study (1988), we find that perceived value can be evaluated by product price, product quality, and the benefits that consumer get from the product. Focusing on the benefits from products, Sweeney and Soutar (2001) bring up another four dimensions to investigate perceived value: emotion, socialization, price, and performance/quality. First, emotional value is from consumers’ feelings or affective states when they firstly touch a product. Second, social value is public impression of a product that affects consumers’ cognition. Third, value for money represents that a product is evaluated by the short-term and long-term costs. For example, the price of a set of LINE paid stickers is NT$30 to NT$60. When a user purchase the set of LINE paid stickers, he or she are allowed to use all the time. With a little cost, the user is able to use the set of LINE stickers permanently. Lastly, consumers are affected by the performance or the quality of a product. As we mentioned in the introduction, LINE stickers is well known for the comic-style performance with characters. Therefore, consumers favor LINE stickers.

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Most of previous studies are focusing on product, such as product price, product quality, and the benefits derived from the product, to define or examine perceived value.

However, to the consumer’s perceptive, past experience is also another way to perceive the value in consumption process. In view of the experience, Holbrook (1994) used three dimensions to explore perceived value. First, ‘extrinsic and intrinsic value’: the former is that in consumption process, consumers use functional or practical instruments to reach their purpose; the latter is stressed on purchase/use experience.

Second, ‘self- and other-oriented value’: self-oriented value is consumers who evaluate the value derived from products or service; other-oriented value is external factors, which have influence on consumers, such as environments, family, and friends. Third,

‘active versus reactive value’: in consumption process, the value is generated as the consumer manipulates the product or service, which refers to active value; conversely, reactive value is created when the product or service does to the consumer. In this study, about perceived value, we combine the above three scholars’ studies to investigate that product value and experiential value have positive effects on desire and attitude, and then on behavioral intention to purchase LINE stickers.