It's well proven that price affects quality perceptions

Volckner and Hofmann (2007) analyzed 71 studies from 23 publications spanning from 1989 to 2006. The researchers distilled following findings:

The impact of price on quality perception is significant but has decreased since reported in the late 1980s (Rao and Monroe 1989). Price-quality inference is stronger for higher-priced products. Price-quality inferences decrease with increasing familiarity with the product. Price-quality inference is stronger for fast-moving consumer goods than for services or durable goods. Price-quality inference is stronger in European countries than in North American countries.