This paper examines the relative influences of brand , price and country of origin on consumers’purchase choices by using a conjoint analysis experiment . Two distinct groups are identified. The driving force to make pur2 chase choice for one group is brand recognition and for another group it is price. Contrary to intuition , for the later group of respondents , higher prices are more favorably evaluated , suggesting evidence that respondents utilize price as a surrogate for inferring product quality. Finally , profiles of the two respondent groups are compared , and the im2 plications of the findings are discussed.