Perceived vs Objective, continued

The NYT food section had a sobering article that speaks to some of Sandeep's questions from his earlier post. Perceived vs actual quality in wines, apparently, is all in your head. The article cites a study showing that the more expensive consumers think a bottle is, the more pleasure they get out of it. Sifting through the lees from a marketing standpoint, it would indicate that wine is about increasing the perceived value, raising the price--quality is secondary as long as the consumer buys into the fluffery. But when you get right down to it, or distill it if you will, isn't that the job of the marketer?