I had read it before but have long since spaced on the term.
Basically the concept that a product is better because it is more expensive and that they feel the need to defend the product to “self justify” the expense especially when it is a hard reach for their financial situation.
Examples:
Apple computers and phones vs their cheaper and quite serviceable counterparts.
Mercedes vs. some other cheaper sedan that may have similar performance/specification.
Starbucks coffee vs. McDonalds (I actually hear good things about McD’s Coffee, not a big coffee drinker myself)
Veblen goods are goods that increase in demand as their price goes up because they are used to signal conspicuous consumption.
That sounds kinda like it. Probably close enough for the FB discussion I am involved in.
“Upward sloping demand curve” is another catch phrase. Giffen goods: Consumers demand more of them as the price goes up, which isn’t the usual case. Giffen goods are a theoretic curiosity: they have been difficult to confirm in the wild, though they are plausible descriptions of certain markets.
Another concept is “Resale price maintenance”. Manufacturers set a price floor for their products to ensure that retailers provide services for their customers or at least take the time to twist their arms.
A third: Price is a signal for higher quality, or at least is interpreted as such by some consumers.
Cognitive dissonance seems to be a closely related topic, I think.
There’s a known consumer bias towards believing goods of a higher price are of a better quality. This article discusses some of the studies, but doesn’t give the phenomenon a specific name.
Premium brand is the term we use.