Price setting and the value of a strong brand name

Abstract

The measurement of quality for a service product is very difficult and consumers have to rely heavily on the brand name reputation of the supplier. This paper examines whether the brand name reputation of accounting firms, who supply audit services, earn premium audit fees. The sample data uses accounting firms who switched brand names and the effect of this switch on audit fees is analyzed. The results indicate that the repositioning of brand to that of a high prestige name leads to higher audit fee revenue. Brand name reputation appears to be important in the provision of audit services.