STUDY 3: SALIENCE OF PRICE
Study 3 tested the hypothesis that high (vs. low) power distance belief individuals’ greater need for structure leads them to rely on price because it is more salient to them and because it readily enables discrimination among brands. We predicted that experimentally enhancing the salience of price would increase low power distance belief individuals’ reliance on it because their baseline tendency to rely on price is low (compared to a condition in which price salience is unchanged), but it should have little effect on high power distance belief individuals’ reliance on it because their baseline tendency to rely on price is already high (ceiling effect; Friesen et al. 2014) (hypothesis 3a). Hence
when price salience is enhanced, we expected both high and low power distance belief individuals to make price- quality judgments.
Similarly, we predicted that reducing the salience of price (by highlighting another attribute) would decrease high power distance belief individuals’ reliance on it (com- pared to a condition in which price salience is unchanged), but should have little effect on low power distance belief individuals’ reliance on it because of their low baseline tendency to rely on price (floor effect; hypothesis 3b). Hence when price salience is reduced, we expected neither high nor low power distance belief individuals to make price-quality judgments. Further, when price salience is unchanged, we expected high, but not low, power distance belief participants to make price-quality judgments, as in the previous studies.