VALUE AND WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY (WTP) HIGH PRICE: Mediating Role of Herbal Brand Credibility and Word-of-Mouth in Ghana

Abstract

The role of perceived value, brand credibility and word-of-mouth endorsement in supporting customers` behavioural intentions to pay a high price has gained much attention lately in the marketing literature. However, studies on the impact of perceived value on customers` intention to pay a high price via the intervening role of brand credibility and word-of-mouth endorsement are relatively scarce in the literature. Consequently, this research goal was to assess the impact of customer value (as a high-order variable) on intentions to pay a high price through the intervening role of brand credibility and word-of-mouth endorsement in the herbal industry in Ghana. Through a systematic sampling procedure, 265 samples of customers in the herbal market provided data for this research. Structural equation modelling was employed to quantitatively analysed the hypotheses proposed in the research. The results show that all the social value, emotional value, perceived quality and value for money are dimensions of perceived value. Again, it was also established that brand credibility plays a partial role in the influence of perceived value on word-of-mouth endorsement and intentions to pay more. Likewise, word-of-mouth endorsement was found to partially contributes to supporting the relationship between brand credibility and intentions to pay more in the herbal market. The paper, therefore, established that the contribution of brand credibility and word-of-mouth endorsement is critical when building perceived value (social value, emotional value, quality and value for money) to reinforce customers` intentions to pay a high price in the herbal industry.