The Moderating Effects of Message Framing and Source Credibility on the Price-Perceived Risk Relatio

Author(s): Dhruv Grewal, Jerry Gotlieb, Howard Marmorstein

Source: The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jun., 1994), pp. 145-153Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489746Accessed: 03/09/2010 23:17

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The and Moderating Source Effects on of the Message Framing Credibility Risk Price-perceived DHRUV GREWAL JERRY GOTLIEB MARMORSTEIN* HOWARD Relationship One factor that research has identified as a critical determinant of consumers' will- ingness to buy a new product or brand is the perceived risk associated with the purchase. Consequently, a better understanding of the factors affecting consumers' and performance risk entailed by the purchase of a new perceptions of the financial brand is of both theoretical and pragmatic importance. Previous research has sug- gested that a new product's price affects consumers' perceptions of risk. The current article extends and integrates previous research by proposing that the effect of price on consumers' perceptions of risk is moderated by two communication factors: The results of an experiment support the message framing and source credibility. predictions that the influence of price on consumers' perceptions of performance of the source risk is greater when the message is framed negatively or the credibility is low. In addition, the results support the prediction that the effect of price on consumers' perceptions of financial risk is greater when the message is framed positively. new brands and adopt innovative products are of both theoretical interest and pragmatic importance. Thus, it is not surprising to find that a considerable amount of marketing research has been devoted to un- derstanding the factors affecting these decisions (see, e.g., Arndt 1967; Bearden and Shimp 1982). One factor that research has identified of as a critical determinant consumers' willingness to buy a new item is the per- ceived risk with the purchase. associated This article is in which into the way designed to provide further insight marketing communications affect consumers' percep- tions of the financial and performance risk entailed by the purchase of a new brand. Previous research suggests that a new product's price and the way advertised information is communicated *Dhruv Grewal is assistant professor, Department of Marketing, of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124. Jerry University B. Gotlieb is associate professor of marketing, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42104. Howard Marmorstein is assistant pro- of Marketing, fessor, Department University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 331,24. The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful suggestions W. provided by J. Baker, L. Compeau, R. Goodstein, D. Grewal, Lassar, M. Levy, T. Mangleburg, A. Sharma, M. Yadav, the editor, and the three reviewers. D.G. and H.M. were both partly funded by a summer of Miami. research grant from the University 145 T he issues surrounding consumers' decisions to try of the performance risk perceptions affect consumers' (see, e.g., Shimp and Bearden 1982). of a new product that refers to the possibility Perceived performance risk the product will not function as expected and/or will 1960; Oglethorpe not provide the desired benefits (Bauer that 1988). It is interesting that some research suggests will reduce a consumers' percep- a relatively high price with the pur- risk associated tion of the performance product (Peterson and Wilson chase of a particular 1985), while other studies report little or no effect of risk (see, e.g., Shimp performance price on perceived White and Truly 1989). We suggest and Bearden 1982; that these conflicting findings may be due to the fact used was (implicitly) message that a positively framed in some cases, whereas a negatively framed message was re- the current Therefore, (implicitly) used elsewhere. on prospect and Tver- theory (Kahneman search draws in the this apparent inconsistency sky 1979) to resolve of the rela- and to explain why the strength literature per- price and perceived tionship between a product's infor- formance risk depends on the way advertised mation is communicated. We complement this conceptual contribution with an empirical study that the framing of an advertised message does, indicates that in fact, moderate the price-perceived performance risk relationship. ? 1994 Inc. * Vol. 21 * June 1994 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, All rights reserved. 0093-5301/95/2101-0009$2.00 146 In addition to message framing, a second commu- nication factor that researchers have examined in the context of consumers' perceptions of performance risk is the credibility of the message source. For ex- ample, a study by Bearden and Shimp (1982) found that the source's credibility (operationalized via war- rantor reputation) was negatively related to consumers' perceptions of the risk of purchasing several new products. However, past research in advertising and persuasion (Eagly and Chaiken Mizerski, Golden, and Kernan 1979) suggests that the 1975; Kelly 1967; relationship between source credibility and perceived performance risk may be more complex. Specifically, we propose that source credibility will interact with price to affect consumers' judgments of the perfor- mance risk associated with an advertised product. We then make a further contribution by providing empir- ical evidence that source credibility moderates the re- lationship between price and perceived performance risk. Another important type of risk perception that has been examined in the context of consumers' decisions to adopt new products is perceived financial risk (Shimp and Bearden 1982). Several previous studies have proposed and found a positive relationship be- tween price and perceived financial risk (Kaplan, Szy- billo, and Jacoby 1974; White and Truly 1989). This article makes an important conceptual distinction be- tween perceived financial risk and perceived perfor- mance risk in order to better explain the relationship between price and perceived financial risk. Specifically, the concept of life-cycle cost (Hutton and Wilkie 1980) suggests that financial risk should be defined in terms of the potential monetary outlay associated with the initial purchase price as well as the subsequent maintenance and repair costs of a product. Thus, a fundamental distinction between financial risk and performance risk is that the price of the product is an inherent component of financial risk (via initial out- lay), whereas price is not necessarily related to per- ceived performance risk. This distinction suggests that the effect of price on consumers' perceptions of the respective types of risks is likely to differ. In a similar way, the joint effect of message framing and price on the aforementioned types of and found to differ. perceived risk is proposed In the next section of the ature is reviewed and the article, the relevant liter- the study's three hypotheses is conceptual foundation for methodology employed to study this set of issues is presented. The research described. The empirical results of an then presented. The study experiment are framing, and source credibility and measured their ef- manipulated price, message fects on consumers' and financial risk. The perceptions of performance risk the limitations of the concluding discussion notes ture research, and discusses the implications of the study, offers suggestions for fu- findings. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH BACKGROUND Message Framing and Price-perceived Performance Risk Past research has hypothesized that price has a neg- ative influence on perceived performance risk (see, e.g., Shimp and Bearden 1982; White and Truly 1989). However, the empirical results pertaining to this rela- tionship have been mixed. In this context, it is inter- esting to note that studies of the price-perceived per- formance risk relationship have implicitly used both negative and positive message frames. Positively framed messages are defined as commu- nications that emphasize a brand's advantages or the potential gains to consumers in a situation. For ex- ample, a positively framed message might indicate that a company's product is superior to its competitor's (e.g., AT&T might advertise that an AT&T call is clearer than an MCI call). Similarly, in a study by Bearden and Shimp (1982), a product (a plastic automobile tire) was described as \"having advantages over conventional tires by being longer lasting and safer while providing a more comfortable ride\" (p. 231). These researchers appear to have used a positive frame in their study and did not find a significant effect of price on performance risk. Similarly, White and Truly (1989) used the same op- erationalization as Bearden and Shimp (1982) and failed to detect the expected relationship between price and perceived performance risk. In contrast, negatively framed messages are defined as communications that point out a brand's disadvan- tages or the potential losses to consumers in a situation. For example, a negatively framed message might suggest that a competitor's product is inferior to the company's own product (e.g., AT&T might advertise that an MCI call is typically less audible than an AT&T call). In an alternative manner, in Peterson and Wilson (1985) the respondents were presented with information about the failure rate of products (i.e., a negative frame). Their results suggest that there is a negative relationship be- tween a product's price and a consumer's perception of the performance risk associated with the purchase of that product. An observation that can be induced from past research is that the effect of price on perceived per- formance risk seems to be greater when a message is framed negatively than when a message is framed pos- itively. A possible explanation for the role that message framing plays in moderating the relationship between price and perceived performance risk is provided by prospect theory. Prospect theory predicts that consum- ers are likely to be more risk averse in order to secure potential gains when a message is framed positively than when a message is framed negatively (Kahneman and Tversky 1979). For example, Puto (1987) found that industrial buyers made a greater proportion of risk- averse choices when the message was framed positively MODERATING EFFECTS OF MESSAGE FRAMING (i.e., they were told they would gain an important cost advantage) than when the message was framed nega- tively (i.e., they were told they would avoid losing an important cost advantage). Moreover, past research (see, e.g., Garner 1986) indicates that consumers who are more risk averse conduct a more thorough analysis of the available information prior to decision making. A proposed consequence of performing a more thorough analysis is that consumers make relatively less use of price to judge a product's performance pected to occur for two distinct reasons. risk; this is ex- First, consumers who have conducted a thorough analysis of the attribute information provided in a mar- keting communication are expected to rely more heavily on these intrinsic cues to judge the performance risk associated with the product.' Since price is an extrinsic cue for the purpose ofjudging a product's expected per- formance (Dodds, Monroe, and Grewal 1991) and as- sociated risk, consumers who are more risk averse are expected to make relatively less use of price to judge performance risk. Second, the consumers who analyze more thoroughly the multiple cues provided in a mar- keting communication are expected to be less affected by any individual cue, such as price (Dodds et al. 199 1). In sum, prospect theory can be applied to predict that the framing of an advertised message influences the level of consumers' risk aversion. In turn, the con- sumers' level of risk aversion influences the thorough- ness with which they examine a marketing communi- cation and the extent to which they use price to judge performance risk. The results reported by Peterson and Wilson (1985), Shimp and Bearden (1982), and White and Truly (1989) can be explained by using prospect theory as a unifying theoretical framework. The fore- going theory and empirical evidence provide a basis for predicting that the effect of price on perceived perfor- mance risk will be less (greater) for consumers who are exposed to a positively (negatively) framed message. Hi: There will be an interaction effect of price and message framing on perceived performance risk. Specifically, the effect of price on per- ceived performance risk will be greater when the message is framed negatively than when the message is framed positively. Source Credibility and Price-perceived Performance Risk A spokesperson's credibility is determined by both the source's trustworthiness and expertise (Dholakia and Sternthal 1977). Attribution theory (Kelly 1967) suggests that consumers who are exposed to an adver- 'Intrinsic cues are defined as the product's inherent characteristics; in contrast, extrinsic cues refer to nonphysical product characteristics, such as the price, that can be changed without altering the funda- mental nature of the product (Jacoby, Olson, and Haddock 1971). 147 tisement act as naive scientists in attempting to assess whether the message provides an accurate representa- tion and/or whether the source of the message lacks credibility (see, e.g., Folkes 1988; Mizerski et al. 1979). The persuasive impact of the message is typically less- ened whenever consumers attribute reporting or knowledge bias to the source (Eagley, Wood, and Chai- ken 1978). When source credibility is low, attribution theory suggests that consumers will discount the arguments in a message (Eagly and Chaiken 1975). As a result, the product attribute claims made by a low-credibility source in an advertisement are perceived as less useful for judging performance risk. However, price is a part ticularly unambiguous cue (Scitovszky 1945) that may be useful for making judgments about a product's per- formance or quality when other cues are unavailable or unreliable (Dodds et al. 1991; Shimp and Bearden 1982). The price cue is expected to have a greater effect on perceived performance risk when source credibility is low. In contrast, consumers are more inclined to ac- cept message arguments when source credibility is high (Mizerski et al. 1979). In this case, consumers are more likely to use attribute information to judge performance risk. Consequently, the impact of price on consumers' assessment of perceived performance risk will be re- duced. The previous discussion suggests the following hypothesis: H2: There will be an interaction effect of price and source credibility on perceived performance risk. Specifically, the effect of price on per- ceived performance risk will be greater when source credibility is low than when source credibility is high. Price, Message Framing, and Differences between Performance Risk and Financial Risk This section begins by making an important concep- tual distinction between perceived performance risk and perceived financial risk. The nature of this difference suggests that the relationship between price and the types of perceived risk will differ. The theoretical foun- dation for the study's hypothesis regarding the joint ef- fects of price and message framing on perceived finan- cial risk is then presented before turning to the study of these issues. The concept of life-cycle cost (Hutton and Wilkie 1980) suggests that there are two components under- lying the long-term cost of a product-the initial outlay and subsequent maintenance and repair costs. Thus, as previously noted, a fundamental distinction between financial risk and performance risk is that the price of the product is an inherent component of perceived fi- nancial risk (via initial outlay), whereas price is not necessarily related to perceived performance risk. As a 148 consequence, product attribute information more thoroughly, are not risk-averse consumers, who process expected to rely heavily on price to judge the product's performance risk. In contrast, even consumers who process product attribute information thoroughly may remain inclined to weigh price heavily in ments of the financial risk associated with their judg- a product. purchasing The rationale for predicting an interaction effect of message framing and price on perceived financial risk builds on prospect theory. As mentioned pect theory suggests that consumers who are earlier, pros- to a positively framed message will engage in a more exposed thorough information search and analysis prior to de- cision making than consumers who are exposed to a negatively framed message (see above). This additional analysis by risk-averse consumers is expected to lead to greater use of price to judge financial risk than is used by less risk-averse consumers for two reasons. the context of decisions for First, in brands, consumers who do a thorough analysis are more many new products and inclined to recognize that the magnitude of the initial dollar outlay stream of maintenance and (i.e., price) is likely to exceed the expected averse consumers who perform a repair costs. Second, risk- more likely to thorough analysis are the financial outlay associated with a recognize and incorporate the fact that certain in contrast to the product's price is hood) that maintenance and repair costs will be in- uncertainty (i.e., low likeli- curred. Both of the aforementioned that the effect of arguments suggest be greater when consumers are price on perceived financial risk will rather than a negative, message frame. exposed to a positive, An additional reason for effect of predicting an interaction cial risk is as follows. For consumers message framing and price on perceived finan- the positive or negative between price and the initial message frame, the relationship exposed to either inherently positive. However, price is proposed to re- outlay for a product is duce the expected repair costs (via a reduction in formance risk, as noted in per- extent for those consumers who are Hypothesis 1) to a greater atively framed message. This provides a third reason exposed to the neg- for predicting that the effect of price on consumers' per- ceptions of financial risk (i.e., initial outlay plu-s sub- sequent repair costs) will be posed to the positively framed message. greater for consumers ex- H3: There will be an interaction effect of price and message framing on financial risk. Specifically, the effect of will price on perceived financial risk be greater when the message is framed positively than when the message is framed negatively. METHOD Overview A 2 X 2 X 2 used in the between-subjects factorial design was experiment. The product category used was JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH a VCR. The independent variables consisted of message framing (positive and negative), source credibility (high and low), and price (high and low). Subjects were ran- domly assigned to treatments. Independent Variables A fictitious brand name (Hito) was created and com- pared with an established brand (Toshiba) in each of eight advertisements. Comparative print advertisements were used to test the hypotheses because they facilitated the manipulation of positive versus negative framing of attribute information. The two brands of VCRs were compared on each of the following attributes: Sharp, clear picture quality New highly sensitive, low-distortion tuner that gives better sound Easy-to-use fast-forward and rewind Easily programmed Picture-sharpness control High-fidelity sound One-touch recording All 139 channels preset In the positively framed treatments, the presentation indicated \"Hito rated superior to Toshiba\" on seven of the eight attributes. On the eighth attribute the adver- tisement indicated \"Hito rated equal to Toshiba.\" In the negatively framed treatments, the same seven at- tributes were presented as \"Toshiba rated inferior to Hito.\" On the eighth attribute, the advertisement in- dicated \"Toshiba rated equal to Hito.\" Source credibility was manipulated by describing the source (spokesperson) in the advertisements as being either an electrical engineer (high credibility) or a car salesman (low credibility). Both sources were presented as satisfied buyers of the Hito brand VCR who had compared Hito with Toshiba. An examination of advertisements for VCRs in a major metropolitan area indicated that $699 was a high price. Therefore, in the high price treatment the Hito brand was priced at $699. Furthermore, a commonly used price differential for the low price treatment is 50 percent less than the high price treatment (see, e.g., Della Bitta, Monroe, and McGinnis 1981). On the basis of this information, the Hito brand was priced at $349 in the low price treatment. The Toshiba brand was al- ways priced at $699. Sample and Procedures It was important to ensure that all subjects included in the experiment were familiar with the product cat- egory and could relate to the conditions being tested. Only one subject indicated nonuse of a VCR within the past year. These results indicate that using a VCR as the test product is appropriate and consistent with vious research that has shown that student subjects are pre- MODERATING EFFECTS OF MESSAGE FRAMING TABLE 1 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE RESULTS Effect Price (PR) Frame (FR) Source credibility (SC) PR X FR PR X SC FR X SC PR X FR X SC Error MANOVA Wilks's X (p-value) .93 (.01) .99 (.94) .99 (.80) .92 (.01) .96 (.06) .97 (.19) .99 (.57) df 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 123 ANOVA performance risk F-value (1) 5.72 .03 .42 5.85 4.50 .36 1.03 (.20) (.00) (.07) (.22)* (.19)* (.06) (.09) 149 ANOVA financial risk F-value (1) 3.41 .11 .00 7.26 .18 3.41 .37 (.09) (.02) (.01) (.24)** (.04) (.17) (.05) NOTE.-There is a significant correlation between performance risk and financial risk perceptions (r = .30, p < .01). The F-values indicated above pertain to the Type IlIl sums of squares. *p < .05. ** p <.01. familiar with this product category (Biswas and Blair Prior to the experiment, the treatment booklets were randomized. All subjects were students enrolled in business classes at a large urban university (n = 131). Participation in the study was voluntary. Subjects were told that they were participating in a \"survey of con- sumer were then asked reading habits.\" to \"please They read each page as you normally would if you were read- ing a newspaper or magazine.\" Subjects first read an actual magazine advertisement as a control and then were exposed to one of the treatment advertisements. They then responded to the dependent variables and the manipulation checks (see Appendix). 1991). and Validity of Measures Reliability The study employed multi-item seven-point mea- sures of performance risk and financial risk (see Ap- pendix). The results indicated that the scales were re- liable (a's greater than .75). In addition, confirmatory factor analysis of the performance and financial risk scales indicated that the fit of the two-factor correlated model (X2 = 8.53, df = 8, p = .38, goodness of fit index [GFI] = .98) was significantly better than the fit of the one-factor model (X2 = 108.76, df = 9, p < .01, GFI = .77). The chi-square test of the difference in fit be- tween the two models provides evidence of discriminant validity df = 1, p < .01). Next, the variance (X2 = 100.23, extracted for the two constructs individually (.76 for performance risk and .53 for financial risk) was greater than the square of the parameter estimate between them provided further evidence of discrim- (02 = .27), which inant validity. Finally, the correlation between the two perceived risk constructs was significantly less than unity-a further indication of their discriminant validity. = .59). Source was measured using a multi- credibility and Coney (1982). The item scale taken from Harmon manipula- results indicated that the source credibility tion was effective (F(1,126) = 31.21, p < .001, q = .45). to test their Subjects were given an aided-recall question awareness of the framing manipulation. They were asked to recall how the Hito VCR was rated in the adc to to which they were exposed (\"Hito rated superior Toshiba\" or \"Toshiba rated inferior to Hito\"). The was com- of correct responses (88 percent) percentage have the proportion that one would expected pared with to be correct if the subjects had been merely guessing (i.e., 50 percent). These results support the message- frame manipulation (Z = 8.69, p < .001, n = .76).2 the price manipulation (F(1,127) = 67.45, p < .00 1, q support point scale (very low to very high). The results Results interac- The MANOVA results indicate significant tions of price by message framing (p < .01) and price by source credibility (p < .10; see Table 1). interaction Hypothesis 1. There was a significant and price on perceived effect of message framing per- effect with Hypothesis 1, price had a significant accord was risk when the message on perceived performance = framed negatively (X$349 = 5.30 vs. X$699 4.11, F(1,123) = 11.28, p < .01,= .29) but not when the 2The results of a follow-up study (n = 42) further support the fact that the manipulation of message framing was effective. In the follow- up study, subjects were provided the same ad booklets as in the ex- periment. The subjects were asked to recall as much of the ad for the Hito VCR as possible. The recalled attributes were coded by an in- dependent judge. The ANOVA results indicate that the positively framed message resulted in a significantly higher number of recalled ad attributes (positively framed: X = 4.67 [n = 21 ]; negatively framed: X = 3.19 [n = 21]; F(1,40) = 8.33, p = .006). This suggests that the positive frame led to more thorough analysis of the ad in accord with the prospect-theory-based predictions. formance risk (F(1,123) = 6.23, p < .05, q = .22). In Manipulation Checks In order to check the manipulation of price, subjects were asked to rate the price of the Hito VCR on a seven- 150 1 FIGURE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH OF MESSAGE FRAME PERFORMANCE RISK AS A FUNCTION OF PRICE ON PERCEIVED THE EFFECT 6.5 6.0- 5.5 - 0 4.5 0L 4.0 3.5_ 3.0 Low Price High Price 1: Negotive Frame +Positive Frome message was framed positively (X$349 = 4.70 vs. X$699 =4.74, F(1,123) = 0.01, p > .50,7 = .01; see Fig. 1). Hypothesis 2. There was a significant interaction effect of source and price on perceived credibility per- accord with Hypothesis 2, price had a significant effect on perceived when source credibility performance risk low (X$349 = 5.37 vs. was X$699 = 4.25, F(1,123) = 9.39, formance risk (F(1,123) = 4.45, p < .05, q = .19). In p < .01, q = .27) but not when source credibility was high (X$349 = 4.67 vs. X$699 = 4.56, F(1,123) = 0.11, p > .50, q = .03; see Fig. 2). Hypothesis 3. There was a significant interaction effect of message and price on perceived framing finan- with Hypothesis 3, price had a significant effect on per- ceived financial risk when the message was framed pos- = 5.24, F(1,123) = 6.88, itively (X$349 = 4.44 vs. X$699 cial risk (F(1,123) = 7.53, p < .01, q = .24). In accord p < .05, q = .23) but not when the message was framed negatively (X$349 = 4.95 vs. X$699 = 4.62, F(1,123) = 1.62, p > .10,? = .11; see Fig. 3). GENERAL DISCUSSION and Implications Summary Previous research suggested that prospect theory could help explain decisions under conditions of risk but had not examined whether prospect theory could explain how consumers use ad information to assess the risk associated with new products or brands. This article used prospect theory as a conceptual framework on the re- in the literature to resolve an inconsistency lationship between price and perceived performance theory, the strength risk. In accord with the proposed price and per- between a product's of the relationship depends on the way advertised ceived performance risk the effect information is communicated. Specifically, of the performance perceptions of price on consumers' of a new brand was with the purchase risk associated greater when a message was framed in a negative fashion. to investigate In addition, is among the first this study in the context of price and message framing the effects The absence of re- of a comparative advertisement. in this context is search attention to message framing the primary issue in not particularly surprising because comparative advertising this domain has been whether is more effective than noncomparative advertising. does provide a dif- advertising However, comparative from noncomparative advertising. ferent message frame This study extends research by suggesting that previous within comparative there are different message frames moder- framing indicate that message ads. Our results of price in comparative advertisements. ates the effects In addition to message framing, a second commu- nication factor was proposed and found to moderate of of price on the perceived performance risk the effect The of the message source. the credibility a new brand: negative effect of price on consumers' perceptions of of a with the purchase the performance risk associated the credibility of the source was greater when new brand was low. Likewise, this interaction indicates that the effect of credibility on consumers' perceptions of the MODERATING EFFECTS OF MESSAGE FRAMING FIGURE 2 OF PRICE ON PERCEIVED RISK AS A FUNCTION OF SOURCE CREDIBILITY THE EFFECT PERFORMANCE 6.5 151 6.0- Xti 0 U 5.5 - 0 0 0. v 0 5.0 - 1 0 4.0 3.5 3.0 Low Price High Price O High Credibility + Low Credibility of a new associated with the purchase performance risk viewed was low. When the price brand was greater when im- has a direct perspective, this finding from the latter plication for the choice of spokesperson to be used in are of a new brand. Since new brands the advertising that are lower than those of at prices often introduced that a highly credible the market leaders, it is essential risk spokesperson be used to reduce the performance be implied by the low price. that would otherwise an is that it makes of this article A final contribution performance between distinction important conceptual which suggests that the effect of risk and financial risk, of the respective types perceptions price on consumers' of price indicate that the effect of risks differ. The results on consumers' perceptions of the financial risk asso- is greater when ciated with the purchase of a new brand a message is framed positively. for Future and Suggestions Limitations Research consumers' judg- This study found that price affects the ments of a product's performance risk when either or the credibility message is framed in a negative fashion of the source should try to de- is low. Future research termine such as the level of con- whether other factors, or the pur- sumers' knowledge (Rao and Monroe 1988) price chase situation, moderate the relationship between and perceived risk. In addition, the sub- performance in this the product had direct experience with study jects inexperienced consumers category. It is conceivable that price to assess would rely more heavily on a product's with its purchase. the risk associated limitation of this research was that possible Another may habits\" reading the guise of \"a study of consumer (see Petty situation have engendered a low-involvement from Zaich- On a scale adapted and Cacioppo 1986).3 were found to have a low (1985), respondents kowsky can involvement Since level of involvement. to medium the effect of message framing (Maheswaran moderate might manip- research 1990), future and Meyers-Levy ulate involvement to examine whether the price by risk and interaction of performance message framing risk depends on the level of this background financial One should also note that the study was con- variable. setting with a student sample; ducted in a laboratory of these results across other thus, the generalizability to be examined. conditions remains per- Finally, this study limited its focus to perceived re- risk. Similar financial risk and perceived formance time risk, of risk (e.g., social search into additional types For example, to be conducted. remains risk) safety risk, the to identify policy researchers have attempted public for warning labels and public ser- format most effective of us- the risks that communicate vice announcements cigarettes, and alcohol; drugs, ing specific products (e.g., and Swasy 1991). The current see, e.g., Mazis, Morris, examine additional research should findings suggest that con- affect credibility and source framing how message labels in warning provided use of information sumers' 3We thank a reviewer for pointing out this limitation. 152 FIGURE 3 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH THE EFFECT OF MESSAGE FRAME OF PRICE ON PERCEIVED FINANCIAL RISK AS A FUNCTION 6.5 6.0 5.5 - a) U 0 5.o - X) .2 4.5 - 4.0 3.5 - 3.0 Low Price High Price 0 Negotive Frame + Positive Frome on the perceived risks of products. In addition, the in- terrelationships among the various types of perceived risk need to be examined both conceptually and em- pirically. overall financial risk is associated with purchas- ing the Hito brand VCR? very little risk-substantial risk Risk. Three-item seven-point scale Perceived Performance based on Shimp and Bearden's (1982) scale (a = .90) How confident are you that the Hito brand VCR will perform as described? very confident-not confident at all How certain are you that the Hito brand VCR will work satisfactorily? certain-uncertain Do you feel that the Hito brand VCR will perform the functions that were described in the adver- tisement? do feel sure-do not feel sure APPENDIX Measures Used in the Study Source Credibility Manipulation Check. Six-item seven- a = .88) point scale used by Harmon and Coney (1982) ( The subjects were asked to rate the spokesperson on each of the following: trustworthy-not trustworthy open-minded-not open-minded good-bad expert-not expert experienced-not experienced trained-untrained Perceived Financial Risk. Three-item seven-point scale based on Shimp and Bearden's (1982) scale (a = .77) Considering the potential investment involved, for you to purchase the Hito VCR would be: not risky at all-very risky I think that the purchase of the Hito brand VCR would lead to financial risk for me because of the possibility of such things as higher mainte- nance and/or repair costs. improbable-very probable Given the potential financial expenses associated with purchasing the Hito brand VCR, how much were Subjects Check. Message Framing Manipulation provided an aided-recall question How did the source in the advertisement rate most of the features of the Hito VCR? 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