Abstract The impact of emotions on price-quality perceptions has been widely debated but remains insufficiently understood. We conducted four studies exploring how emotional valence and scarcity perception influence the price-quality effect. Study 1 revealed that positive emotion enhances the price-quality effect, while negative emotion has no significant influence on the relationship. Study 2 and Study 3 further demonstrated that individuals in a positive emotion rely more heavily on price when evaluating quality compared to those in a negative emotion. Study 4 found that the sense of scarcity moderated the relationship between emotional valence and the price-quality effect. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of price-quality judgments and shed light on how the sense of scarcity influences the relationship between emotion and the price-quality effect in contemporary contexts.