However, some research indicates that just being a known brand dramatically affects how consumers perceive it.

This means that consumers perceive a particular trade dress as identifying a source of a product.

As a result, consumers perceive one brand to be just as good as another.

Perhaps consumers perceive them as old-fashioned, irrelevant or lacking in innovation.

There are also differences in how local consumers perceive a product.

G.M.'s market share has eroded since 1985, partly because consumers perceived the cars from its five different car divisions as looking similar.

Companies are finding that because consumers perceive a value, they end up upgrading to higher tiers of service.

Many consumers also perceive bundles as bargains; getting a bunch of things for one price feels like a deal, even when it's not.

Not all producers or consumers perceive the issue in the same way.

Neither company provided consumer perception data, however, so the panel had to consider how a consumer would perceive the difference.