Good one Deb! I was trying to get hung! OK. Perceived value... let me think... hmm. I know! To MOST marketers it means cobbling together a bunch of useless junk to offer as bonus #1 through to bonus #6 or more. Actually, I have even seen up to 35 bonuses. Yep. I have. When I buy something on the net I just want what I want! I don't want a bunch of useless, irrelevant junk. Worse, much of it is just sales letters. Ugh! Gary Simpson

Okay I knew that answer too but now in response to the question as posed I would like to offer this: What does 'perceived value' mean? To the business owner? To the customer? How can we build it? How do we destroy it? Thoughts? Since all value is only value when it is perceived as such. Is there any other type of value? Obviously a value is not a value unless it is perceived to be one. No matter how real a value may be, it has no value at all until the value is perceived. A good way to destroy Perceived Value is to lead somneone to think that something is of a value that it isn't. A used car, it might not be everything a sales person would lead you to think it is. To make one think that something will enhance their life while all it really will enhance is the sales records. Nothing has a Perceived Value to a person unless they can see the benifit of the value to them. There that should be as clear as mud.

Hi Linda, As a business owner we can build it by offering good quality products at reasonable prices, with good customer service attached. We can destroy it by ignoring the customers needs, and offering inferior products, or lying about the quality of the product. Deborah

Hey Deb; That's actually a pretty good guess, yes. I like to say that reality is relative. Most things are a matter of perception. If I think McDonalds is a great place to eat, that's what it IS to me. My perception. If Joe thinks McDonalds is heart attack central, that's what it is to him. His perception. What we perceive is what we believe. People buy when the perceived value is higher than the price they are being asked for. Different things play into perceived value. If I buy a Rolex, the perceived value is not in the gears and mechanism that make the watch. I know I can get a timepiece at Walmart for $10. The perceived value is in what it means to me to say I wear a Rolex. : ) Linda P.S. Can anyone guess the one way that business owners degrade their own perceived value most often?

Hi Deb: My last post was in response to your first reply. lol. ======================================== We can destroy it by ignoring the customers needs, and offering inferior products, or lying about the quality of the product. ======================================== Agreed! I bolded the latter part. A lot of people write such aggressive sales copy that the product does not meet the expectations and leaves people disappointed. That's a fast track to destroying the perceived value. People that were disappointed with their first purchase seldom make a second one. Other ideas? : ) Linda