MP3 Laddering

21 Pages 5219 Words

rs personal values and tries to link them to other things. They use two perspectives: micro (actions, consequences, reinforcement, etc.) and macro (more of a survey approach). The micro approach, being the psychology based approach and the macro being the sociology approach. The laddering technique focuses more on the psychological perspective. (Reynolds, 1988)
Laddering is based on the Means End Theory, which focuses more on the links between attributes of a product, such as color, weight, and size. It takes the attributes (size, color, weight, etc.) and what the consumer gets out of the product which is called a consequence: a result of having or using a certain product (looks good on me, is easy to carry, etc.). Consequences are not physical features of a product, but rather the result for the consumer of something that is (Norton, 1987). Laddering and Means End Theory tie together by having the attributes, which are the “Means”, and the consumers personal values which the consequence reinforce, acting as the “Ends” (Reynolds, 1988). The idea is that consumers choose and purchase products with attributes that are appealing to them. These products have consequences which in turn reinforce the consumers buying behavior, either positively or negatively. The idea is that consumers choose products based on what product attributes are imperative for them to achieve their desired consequences. The Means End Theory tries to make sense of the reasoning and underlying motives of why consequences are important to consumers (Reynolds, 1988).


Attributes

Attributes, are a characteristic or quality of something. In consumer goods they are most often characteristics such as color, weight and size (Norton, 1987). The color red for example may be an attractive attribute for someone interested in a product.
They are the driving force for a consumer to purchase a product and directly linked to consequences, which will b...