COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES

Abstract

Considering its importance to the consumer, price is a relatively neglected variable in the technical consumer literature. The neglect is attributed to the inability of researchers to ensure the equivalency of comparison items or the apple‐and‐orange question. The argument is made that price comparisons of non‐equivalent items are valid and appropriate when the investigator assesses different retail outlets which promote different products, examines common elements found in different products, or compares groups of consumers with different buying preferences. Copyright © 1984, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved