一般消費者常常會有「一分錢一分貨」的想法，但是價格是否真的能夠準確的反應出品質？本研究用使用民國79年11月至民國94年4月份的「中華民國消費者報導」中102種產品的產品測試結果，用以探討台灣市場上價格與品質之間的關係。研究結果顯示，價格並不能準確的反應品質，台灣市場上的品質價格相關平均值為0.189，而且不同產品之間的品質價格相關性都有大幅的差異。本研究也發現價格品質相關性的變異原因之一為產品的特性 - 搜尋品的品質價格相關性高於經驗品的品質價格相關性。而本研究所提出的其他三項解釋原因 – 產品耐久程度、價格變異、以及價格高低並不能顯著的解釋產品品質價格相關性的變異。此研究的結果顯示價格並不能代表品質，因此消費者在購買產品之前必須有更多的資訊，不能單以價格做為購買衡量標準。 / This paper uses 102 product category test results of the Chinese, Taipei Consumer Report from the period of November 1990 to April 2005 to examine the validity of price as a signal of quality in the Taiwan market. In other words, does price accurately reflect quality, and do consumers really get what they pay for? The findings of this study indicate that price is not a very good indication of quality in the Taiwan market, with an average correlation value of 0.189 and greatly varying levels of correlation across product categories. In terms of reasons for the varying correlation levels, product characteristic is a factor – search goods have a higher price-quality correlation than experience goods. Other factors proposed in this study including product durability and quality uncertainty (price range and price levels) do not significantly influence the correlation levels. The results of this study indicate that price is not a good indicator of quality and that consumers need to be informed on more than the price of products when making purchasing decisions.

「品牌形象好的產品，其產品品質也會比較好」的想法，是許多消費者在購物時所依賴的經驗法則。然而，在現今的消費市場，品牌形象是否真能反映出品質的高低？本研究採用民國79年1月至民國94年6月份的「中國民國消費者報導」，探討在16年間，98個產品類別中，品牌形象與產品品質的相關性。 研究結果顯示，品牌形象不能做為產品品質的訊號，在98個產品項中，兩者的相關平均值為-0.14728，並且在各個產品項內，兩者相關性呈現大幅的差異。同時，在研究影響品牌形象與產品品質的中介變數後，本研究發現，在台灣消費市場，相較於開發中國家的產品，已開發國家的產品的品牌形象與產品品質相關性較高；而本研究的另外兩項中介變數：「耐久品/非耐久品」以及「搜尋品/經驗品」，並不能顯著地解釋品牌形象與產品品質相關性的差異。 根據本研究的分析，未來消費者在購買產品時，必須蒐集更多的產品相關資訊以促進購買決策的正確性，而不能單以品牌形象作為最終購買決策的依據。 / It seems that “better brand image implies higher quality” is the rule of thumb. However, is it true in the consumption market nowadays? This thesis uses 98 product category test results of the Chinese, Taipei Consumer Report from the period of January 1990 to June 2005 to examine the relationship between brand image and quality. The results of this thesis indicate that brand image is not a good signal of quality. The correlation coefficient is -0.14728 in average and greatly varying levels of correlation across 98 product category. At the same time, after investigating the variables, this thesis finds out that comparing to the product from developing countries, those from developed countries have higher brand image- quality correlation levels. Besides, other two variables, “durable/non-durable goods” and “search/experience goods”, do not significantly influence the correlation levels. According to the analysis, consumers need to collect more product-related information before final purchase decisions, instead of depending on brand image solely.