Perception is not always reality.
Consumers do not always have complete information about a product's or service's attributes; indirect measures may be their only basis for comparing brands.
A product's durability for example,can seldom be observed directly; it usually must be inferred from various tangible and intangible aspects of the product.In such circumstances,images,advertising and brand names-inferences about quality rather than the reality itself-can be critical.For this reason,both Honda-which makes cars in Marysville,Ohio-and Sony-which builds color televisions in San Diego-have been reluctant to publicize that their products are "made in America".
Reputation is the primary stuff of perceived quality.Its power comes from an unstated analogy:that the quality of products today is similar to the quality of products of yesterday,or the quality of goods in a new product line is similar to the quality of a company's established products