I'd love to do see a double blind study done with unmarked golf balls....to see if people really can tell the difference.
I suspect other than pros and high end AMs, about the only ball the average joe could discern they are playing is a Top Flight ball as they are such rocks...
A long, long time ago, during the brief Titleist Professional era as premium golf balls transitioned from balata to the current ProV1 construction, I was talking to a friend who is still one of the better senior amateurs in the US; then and now, a far, far better golfer than I. I was explaining that I really couldn't afford the Professional, nor balata balls, either.
His advice was simple; he told me that it didn't matter what ball I played as long as I played the same ball all the time. His reasoning was borne out by the Pelz research, which is that balls of different construction behave differently enough on chips and putts to make it important to know what how the ball is going to behave.
I think it's even more true today; basically EVERY ball now is a Pinnacle off the tee, so it becomes a matter of how much spin you are willing to pay for on short irons. I don't think I could tell you the difference between a Callaway Chrome Soft and a ProV1 in a blind test, but I promise you I could tell you the difference between either of those and a Pinnacle or a Noodle or an NXT if I was able to go check the differences between my pitch mark and where the ball ended up. I also think the difference is noticeable in putting, though a decent player can make the adjustment fairly quickly.