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LADDERING THEORY,METHOD, ANALYSIS,AND

INTERPRETATIONThomas J. Reynolds and Jonathan GutmanJournal of Advertising Research Feb/March, 1 !!

ersonal values research in mar"eting has recently received a substantial amount ofattention from both academics and #ractitioners This more in$de#th #rofiling of theconsumer and his or her relationshi# to #roducts offers #otential not only for understanding

the %cognitive% #ositionings of current #roducts but also #ermits the develo#ment of #ositioningstrategies For ne& #roducts. 'ndorsing this more #sychological vie& of the mar"et#lace, (heth)1 !*+ suggests that to be com#rehensive in mar"eting #roducts in the 1 ! -s both researchersand management are going to have to, if they have not already, ado#t this consumer$basedorientation rather than one that merely focuses on #roduct characteristics.

PThe a##lication of the #ersonal values #ers#ective to the mar"eting of consumer #roducts can

be classified into t&o theoretically grounded #ers#ectives, %macro% re#resenting sociology and%micro% re#resenting #sychology )Reynolds, 1 ! +. The macro a##roach refers to stan dardsurvey research methodology combined &ith a classification scheme to categori e res#ondentsinto #redetermined clusters or grou#s )e.g..0A ( methodology of the (tanford Research2nstitute+. 3roducts and their #ositioning strategies are then directed to a##eal to these generaltarget grou#s, such as the Merrill ynch solitary bull a##ealing to the achiever orientation &hosedesire is to send out and 4get ahead of the #ac"5 )3lummer, 1 ! +.

Reynolds )1 ! + notes, though strong on face validity these rather general classifications failto #rovide an understanding, s#ecifically, of ho& the concrete as#ects of the #roduct fit into theconsumer6s life. As such, the macro survey a##roach only gives #art of the ans&er, namely, theoverall value orientation of target segments &ithin the mar"et#lace. Missing are the "ey definingcom#onents of a #ositioning strategy7the lin"ages bet&een the #roduct and the #er onallyrelevant role it has in the life of the consumer.

The more #sychological #ers#ective offered by the %micro% a##roach based u#on Means$'ndTheory )Gutman 1 !8+, s#ecifically focuses on the lin"ages bet&een the attributes that e9ist in

#roducts )the %means%+, :he conse;uences for the consumer #rovided by the attributes, and the #ersonal values )the 4ends5+ the conse;uences reinforce. The means$end #ers#ective closely #arallels the origin of attitude research re#resented by '9#ectancy$0alue Theory )Rosenberg,1

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addering refers to an in$de#th, one$on$one intervie&ing techni;ue used to develo# anunderstanding of ho& consumers translate the attributes of #roducts into meaningful associations&ith res#ect to self, follo&ing Means$'nd Theory )Gutman, 1 !8+. addering involves a tailoredintervie&ing format using #rimarily a series of directed #robes, ty#ified by the 4@hy is thatim#ortant to you 5 ;uestion, &ith the e9#ress goal of determining sets of lin"ages bet&een the"ey #erce#tual elements across the range of attributes )A+, conse;uences )B+, and values )0+.

These association net&or"s, or ladders, referred to as #erce#tual orientations, re#resentcombinations of elements that serve as the basis for distinguishing bet&een and among #roductsin a given #roduct class.

2t is these higher$order "no&ledge structures that &e use to #rocess information relative tosolving #roblems )Abelson, 1 !1+, &hich, in the consumer conte9t, is re#resented by choice.Casically, distinctions at the different levels of abstraction, re#resented by the A$B$0s, #rovidethe consumer &ith more #ersonally relevant &ays in &hich #roducts are grou#ed and cate$gori ed. Thus, the detailing and subse;uent understanding of these higher level distinctions

#rovides a #ers#ective on ho& the #roduct information is #rocessed from &hat could be called amotivational #ers#ective, in that the underlying reasons &hy an attribute or a conse;uence isim#ortant can be uncovered.

For e9am#le, the follo&ing ladder, starting &ith a basic distinction bet&een ty#es of snac"chi#s, re#resents #art of the data collection from a single subDect in a salty$snac" studyE

)0+ self$esteem 2

)B+ better figure 2

)B+ don6t get fat 2

)B+ eat less 2

)A+ strong taste 2

)A+ flavored chi#

These elements &ere se;uentially elicited from the res#ondent as a function of the ladderingtechni;ue6s ability to cause the res#ondent to thin" critically about the connections bet&een the

#roduct6s attributes and, in this case, her #ersonal motivations.The analysis of addering data such as this across res#ondents first involves summari ing the

"ey elements by standard content$analysis #rocedures ) assarDian, 1 ==+, &hile bearing in mindthe levels of abstraction, A$B$0, conce#tuali ation. Then a summary table can be constructedre#resenting the number of connections bet&een the elements. From this summary table domi$nant connections can then be gra#hically re#resented in a tree diagram, termed a hierarchicalvalue ma# ) 0M+. )This ty#e of cognitive ma#, unli"e those out#ut from traditional factoranalysis or multidimensional scaling methods, is structural in nature and re#resents the lin"agesor associations across levels of abstraction Hattributes$conse;uences$valuesI &ithout reference tos#ecific brands.+ nfortunately, though basically accurate, this general descri#tion of> theanalysis #rocess has not been s#ecific enough to #ermit first$time analysts )or their su#eriors+ tofeel comfortable &ith dealing &ith all the vagaries of ;ualitative data of this ty#e. Thus, a ste#$

by$ste# #rocedure, including both the analysis and the assessment of the resulting ma#, &ill bedetailed by &ay of e9am#le later.

2nter#retation of this ty#e of ;ualitative, in$de#th information #ermits an understanding ofconsumers6 underlying #ersonal motivations &ith res#ect to a given #roduct class. 'ach uni;ue

#ath&ay from an attribute to a value re#resents a #ossible #erce#tual orientation &ith res#ect tovie&ing the #roduct category. erein lies the o##ortunity to differentiate a s#ecific brand, not byfocusing on a #roduct attribute, but rather by communicating ho& it delivers higher levelconse;uences and ultimately ho& it is #ersonally relevant, essentially creating an 4image

#ositioning.5 This understanding ty#ically serves as the basis for the develo#ment of advertisingstrategies, each re#resenting a distinct 4cognitive5 #ositioning, &hich reinforces the various

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levels of abstraction for a given #erce#tual orientation )Klson and Reynolds. 1963; Reynolds andGutman, 1 !?+.

2n sum, the e9#ress #ur#ose of the intervie&ing #rocess is to elicit attribute$conse;uence$valueassociations consumers have &ith res#ect to a #roduct or service class. The general notion is toget the res#ondent to res#ond and then to react to that res#onse. Thus, laddering consists of aseries of directed #robes based on mentioned distinctions initially obtained from #erceiveddifferences bet&een and among s#ecific brands of #roducts or services. Again, after the initialdistinction obtained by contrasting brands is elicited, all subse;uent higher$level elements are not

brand s#ecific. The laddering results can be used to create an 0M summari ing all intervie&sacross consumers, &hich is inter#reted as re#resenting dominant #erce#tual orientations, or4&ays of thin"ing,5 &ith res#ect to the #roduct or service category.

Objectives(ince the introduction of the laddering methodology into the consumer research domain, nu$merous a##lications, both a##lied and academic, have been e9ecuted )Gutman, 1 !?> Gutmanand Alden, 1 !?> Gutman and Reynolds, 1 !*> Gutman, Reynolds, and Fiedler, 1 !?> Klson andReynolds, 1 !*> Reynolds and Gutman, 1 !?a> Reynolds and Gutman, 1 !?b> Reynolds andJamieson, 1 !?+. Again, the #rimary a##lication has been to develo# a cognitive hierarchical

value ma# indicating the interrelation of the attributes, conse;uences, and #ersonal values for agiven #roduct or service category.nfortunately, the term laddering in the mar"eting community has become a some&hat generic

term re#resenting merely a ;ualitative, in$de#th intervie&ing #rocess )Morgan, 1 !?+, &ithoutreference to either its theoretical under#innings )Gutman, 1 !8+ or the rather critical distinction

bet&een the intervie&ing #rocess and analytical methods used to derive meaning from the re$sulting data )Lurgee, 1 ! +. ot only have these critical distinctions been overloo"ed, but eventhe standard definition of laddering as an intervie&ing methodology, to date, has not beenaddressed in the academic literature. Given the value of this ty#e of in$de#th understanding ofthe consumer, in #articular, the #otential &ith res#ect to the s#ecification of more accurate anda##ro#riate #ositioning strategies, a com#rehensive documentation of this research a##roach isneeded.Thus, it is the #rimary obDective of this article to detail the intervie&ing techni;ues that #ertain toladdering in order to #rovide a foundation for both its a##lication as &ell as subse;uent methodevaluation. A secondary obDective is to #rovide a detailed descri#tion of ho& the analysis of thiss#ecific ty#e of ;ualitative data is #erformed. The third and final obDective is to demonstrate ho&the laddering results are inter#reted &ith res#ect to develo#ing and understanding #erce#tualorientations and #roduct #ositionings.

Interview EnvironmentGeneral Considerations.

An intervie&ing environment must be created such that the res#ondents are not threatened andare thus &iling to be intros#ective and loo" inside themselves for the underlying motivations be$hind their #erce#tions of a given #roduct class. This #rocess can be enhanced by suggesting inthe introductory comments that there are no right or &rong ans&ers, thus rela9ing the res#on$dent, and further reinforcing the notion that the entire #ur#ose of the intervie& is sim#ly tounder$stand the &ays in &hich the res#ondent sees this #articular set of consumer #roducts. 3ut sim#ly,the res#ondent is #ositioned as the e9#ert. The goal of the ;uestioning is to understand the &ay in&hich the res#ondent sees the &orld, &here the &orld is the #roduct domain com#rised ofrelevant actors, behaviors, and conte9ts. The a##roaches and techni;ues discussed in this articleare designed to assist the res#ondent in critically e9amining the assum#tions underlying theireveryday common#lace behaviors. @ic"er )1 ! + discusses ho& researchers might use some ofthese same devices in brea"ing out of their traditional modes of thin"ing.2m#ortantly, intervie&ers must #osition themselves as merely trained facilitators of this dis$covery #rocess. 2n addition, due to the rather #ersonal nature of the later #robing #rocess, it isadvisable to create a slight sense of vulnerability on the #art of the intervie&er. This can be

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accom#lished by initially stating that many of the ;uestions may seem some&hat obvious and #ossibly even stu#id, associating this #redicament &ith the intervie&ing #rocess, &hich re;uiresthe intervie&er to follo& certain s#ecific guidelines.Kbviously, as &ith all ;ualitative research, the intervie&er must maintain control of the in$tervie&, &hich is some&hat more difficult in this conte9t due to the more abstract conce#ts thatare the focus of the discussion. This can be best accom#lished by minimi ing the res#onseo#tions, in essence being as direct as #ossible &ith the ;uestioning, &hile still follo&ing &hata##ears to be an 4unstructured5 format. Cy continually as"ing the Why is that im#ortant toyou 5 ;uestion, the intervie&er reinforces the #erce#tion of being genuinely interested and thustends to command the res#ect and control of the dialogue.

Cy creating a sense of involvement and caring in the intervie&, the intervie&er is able to get belo& the res#ondent6s surface reasons and rationali ations to discover the more fundamentalreasons underlying the res#ondent6s #erce#tions and behavior. nderstanding the res#ondentinvolves #utting aside all internal references and biases &hile #utting oneself in the res#ondent6s

#lace. 2t is critical that ra##ort be established before the actual in$de#th #robing is initiated as&ell as maintained during the course of the intervie&. Casically, the intervie&er must instillconfidence in the res#ondent so the o#inions e9#ressed are #erceived as sim#ly being recordedrather than Dudged.

Also critical to the intervie&ing #rocess is the ability of the intervie&er to identify theelements brought forth by the res#ondent in terms of the levels of abstraction frame&or". Thus, athorough familiarity &ith the Means$'nd theory is essential.

(ensitive areas &ill fre;uently #roduce su#erficial res#onses created by the res#ondent toavoid intros#ection about the real reasons underlying the res#ondent6s behavior. A clinical sensi$tivity is further re;uired of the intervie&er to both identify and deal &ith these fre;uent and #o$tentially most informative ty#es of dialogue.As in all intervie& situations, since the res#ondents &ill react directly in accordance &ith theintervie&er6s reactions7both verbal and nonverbal7it is vital to ma"e the res#ondent feel atease. Kne should carefully avoid #otentially antagonistic or aggressive actions. Moreover, toavoid any 4intervie& demand characteristics,5 nonverbal cues such as a##roval, disa##roval,sur#rise or hostility, or im#lying reDection should be avoided. 3ut sim#ly, the intervie&er should

be #erceived as a very interested yet neutral recorder of information.

Laddering MethodsEliciting Distinctions. addering #robes begin &ith distinctions made by the individual re$

s#ondent concerning #erceived, meaningful differences bet&een brands of #roducts. avingmade a distinction the intervie&er first ma"es sure it is bi#olar, re;uiring the res#ondent tos#ecify each #ole. The res#ondent is then as"ed &hich #ole of the distinction is #referred. The

#referred #ole then serves as the basis for as"ing some version of the 4@hy is that im#ortant toyou 5 ;uestion. The follo&ing overvie& identifies three general methods of eliciting distinctionsthat have #roven satisfactory. The intervie& outline generally includes at least t&o distinctmethods of eliciting distinctions to ma"e sure no "ey element is overloo"ed.

1. Triadic Sorting ) elly,1 +.3roviding the res#ondent &ith sets of three #roducts as in the Re#ertory Grid #rocedure is one&ay to elicit res#onses from a res#ondent. Follo&ing are instructions for a &ine cooler study&hich used triads to elicit initial distinctions.

2nstructions for Triads

Nou &ill be #resented &ith five grou#s of three different &ine coolers. For each grou# ofthree you &ill have the o##ortunity to tell me ho& you thin" about the differences among thecoolers. For e9am#le, if you &ere given a grou# of three carsE

incoln Bontinental7 Mustang7Badillac

you might say 4car ma"er5 as a &ay of thin"ing about them. T&o are made by Ford and one ismade by General Motors. Another &ay to thin" about them is si e7big versus small. Kfcourse, there are many different &ays that you could thin" about the cars, for e9am#leE

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O high styling versus ordinary stylingO economy versus lu9uryO s#orty versus traditional

There are no right or &rong ans&ers. As 2 #resent you &ith each grou#, ta"e a moment tothin" about the three &ine coolers.

(#ecifically, 2 &ant you to tell me some im#ortant &ay in &hich t&o of the three &inecoolers mentioned are the same and thereby different from the third. Again, &hen 2 sho& youthe names of the three &ine coolers, thin" of some overall &ay in &hich t&o of the coolers arethe same and yet different from the third. 2f your res#onse for one grou# of &ine coolers is thesame as for a #revious grou#, try to thin" of another &ay in &hich they differ.

2. Preference-Consum tion !ifferences.3reference differences can also be a useful device for eliciting distinctions. Res#ondents, after

#roviding a #reference order for, say, brands of coolers, might be as"ed to tell &hy they #refertheir most #referred brand to their second most #referred brand, or more sim#ly to say &hy one

#articular brand is their most #referred )or second most #referred, least #referred. etc.+ brand.

To illustrateE

Nou said your most #referred brand is Balifornia Booler and your second most &as Cartles andJaymes. @hat is it, s#ecifically, that ma"es Balifornia Booler more desirable

Along these same lines, one might as" about #reference and usage and ;uery instances &hereli"ed brands are used infre;uently or less &ell$li"ed brands are used more fre;uently. This device&or"ed &ell in a #ro#rietary study of snac" chi#s. Lifferences bet&een &hat #eo#le li"e and&hat they actually used o#ened u# the discussion to include strategies to limit or control theconsum#tion of snac"s.

3. !ifferences "y #ccasion.2n most cases it is desirable to #resent the res#ondent &ith a #ersonally meaningful conte9t&ithin &hich to ma"e the distinctions. This contributes to more im#ortant distinctions beingelicited as res#ondents6 distinctions are being e9amined in the conte9t of the setting in &hichthey naturally occur )Car"er, 1 Run"el and McGrath, 1 =8+. Attention to the conte9t ofconsumer behavior #rovides a more meaningful conte9t for laddering to #roceed. 3eo#le do notuse or consume #roducts in general> they do so in #articular conte9ts. A study done in theconvenience restaurant category )Gutman, Reynolds, and Fiedler, 1 !?+ used triads bet&eenvarious convenience restaurants as a starting #oint. 2t &as soon discovered that the distinctionselicited re#resented such obvious #hysical characteristics of the #laces com#ared )namely,hamburgers versus chic"en+ that they did not #ermit movement to higher, more #ersonallymeaningful areas from this starting #oint.

Res#ondents &ere then ;uestioned about their usage of various convenience restaurants andthe occasion )day$#art, &ho &ith, concomitant activities+ in &hich they fre;uented them. singthis information to #rovide a relevant conte9t relating to fre;uent usage of the category, re$s#ondents &ere given the same triads but &ith a conte9t for ma"ing a com#arison. For e9am#le,it might be suggested to a mother &ith young children that she has been out sho##ing &ith herchildren, and it being lunch time, she &ants to sto# for lunch on the &ay home. Three conve$nience restaurants could be com#ared for their suitability &ith res#ect to this usage situation. Re$s#ondents could res#ond to triads using their t&o or three most fre;uent usage occasions as aconte9t for res#onding.

@hat is im#ortant is to #rovide a meaningful basis for the res#ondent to "ee# in mind &henthin"ing about differences among the stimuli. 2n this manner their distinctions are more li"ely tolead to a meaningful consideration of outcomes accruing to the res#ondent, &hich relate toma"ing distinctions among the #roducts.

Selecting Ke Distinctions to adder. Ty#ically, a res#ondent can only mention 1 to 18 dif$

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ferent distinctions for a given #roduct category. Knce a satisfactory number of distinctions have been mentioned, the intervie&er has basically t&o o#tions on ho& to select &hich ones &ill serveas the basis for building ladders. 'ither the intervie&er can Dudgmentally select &hichdistinctions are to be used on the basis of #rior "no&ledge of the category or &ith res#ect to thes#ecific research issue at hand. Kr, the intervie&er can #resent a card &ith all the mentioned dis$tinctions on it and have the res#ondent rate the relative im#ortance of each, then select those &iththe highest ratings.

!he !wo "asic Problems o# Laddering. 3rior to the detailing of the s#ecific intervie&ingtechni;ues, t&o of the most common #roblems encountered in laddering and the general ty#e oftactics re;uired to counter the situation &ill be revie&ed. An understanding of these basic issues&ill #rovide a necessary basis for learning the more detailed techni;ues to be #resented later inthe article.

1. The $es ondent $ea%%y !oes &ot 'no() the *ns(er. @hen as"ed &hy a #articularattribute or conse;uence is im#ortant to them, the res#ondent often cannot articulate a 4ready5reason. This lac" of #revious thin"ing of the reason underlying &hy the lo&er level construct isim#ortant can be dealt &ith by as"ing &hat &ould ha##en if the attribute or conse;uence &as notdelivered. 'ssentially this is negative laddering. The 4nonconscious5 reason )#referred in theMean$'nd a##roach to the #sychoanalytic 4subconscious5+ is then ty#ically discovered by theres#ondent imagining the negative, resulting from the absence of the given construct, and thenrelating that bac" to &hat must be delivered if that negative is to be avoided.

Another general class of #robing to avoid bloc"s on the #art of the res#ondent is to change orre#hrase the ;uestion in a situational conte9t, much li"e the more concrete method illustratedearlier for initially eliciting distinctions. Cy discussing the issue in this manner, an ans&er isty#ically 4discovered5 due to the ability to concreti e the issue at hand and deal &ith s#ecificcircumstances.

2. +ssues That ,ecome Too Sensiti e. As the res#ondent is ta"en through the laddering #ro$cess, that is, moved u#&ard through the levels of abstraction, the dynamics of the intervie&

become more and more #ersonal. Reaction to the continued #robing 4@hy is that im#ortant toyou 5 ;uestion about sensitive issues can vary from 4&affling5 )redefining the ;uestion at ane;ual or lo&er level+ to stating 42 don6t "no&,5 silence, or even formulating e9traneous argu$ments as an attem#t to tal" around the issue. Also, the res#ondent can manifest avoidance behavior by attaching negative or adverse characteristics to the intervie&ing #rocess or to theintervie&er.

Casically, three techni;ues can be em#loyed to deal &ith res#ondent bloc"s due to sensitiveissues. The first involves moving the conversation into a third #erson format, creating a role$

#laying e9ercise. The second, and most dangerous o#tion, is for the intervie&er to reveal arelevant #ersonal fact )ty#ically fabricated+ about him/herself that ma"es the res#ondent feel lessinhibited by com#arison. The third, and most common, is to ma"e a note of the #roblem area andcome bac" to the issue &hen other relevant information is uncovered later in the intervie&.

Techni;ues. 'ach of the follo&ing techni;ues &ill be illustrated by using one common #roductclass, &ine coolers, for #ur#oses of sim#licity. A short definition of each techni;ue &ill be

#resented. Then verbatim transcri#tions are sho&n to give a more com#lete e9am#le of theladdering #rocess. (ummary ladders are detailed to illustrate the content classification by level of

abstraction )A/B/0+. ote that each ladder is contained &ithin the 0M de#icted in Figure 1.1. o/ing the Situationa% Conte0t )P+. addering &or"s beet &hen res#ondents are #rovidingassociations &hile thin"ing of a realistic occasion in &hich they &ould use the #roduct. 2t is the

#erson that is the focus of study, not the #roduct. Therefore, it is essential to elicit fromres#ondents the most relevant occasions for #roduct consum#tion and to use these as the focus of the intervie&.

Interviewer E Nou indicated that you &ould be more li"ely to drin" a &ine cooler at a #arty onthe &ee"end &ith friends, &hy is that$es%ondent& @ell, &ine coolers have %ess a%coho%than a mi9ed drin" and because they are so

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fi%%ing2 tend to drin" fe&er and more slo&ly.Interviewer& @hat is the benefit of having less alcohol &hen you are around your friends$es%ondent& 2 never really have thought about it. 2 don6t "no&.Interviewer E Try to thin" about it in relation to the #arty situation. '() @hen &as the last timeyou had a &ine cooler in this #arty &ith friends situation$es%ondent E ast &ee"end. 2ntervie&erE K"ay, &hy coolers last &ee"end Res#ondentE @ell,2 "ne& 2 &ould be drin"ing a long time and + didn t (ant to get (asted.Interviewer E @hy &as it im#ortant to not get &asted at the #arty last &ee"end Res#ondentE@hen 26m at a #arty 2 li"e to socia%i e tal" to my friends, and ho#efully ma"e some ne& friends.2f 2 get &asted 26m afraid 26d ma"e an ass of myself and #eo#le &on6t invite me ne9t time. 2t6sim#ortant for me to be art of the grou .

The summary ladder for )1+ isE

0 sense of belonging )#art of the grou#+B sociali eB avoid getting drun" )&asted+A less alcohol/filling

2.Postu%ating the *"sence of an #"4ect or a State of ,eing '().

Kne &ay of 4unbloc"ing5 res#ondents &hen they cannot move beyond a certain level is toencourage them to consider &hat it &ould be li"e to lac" an obDect or to nut feel a certain &ay.This device often enables res#ondents to verbali e meaningful associations.

Interviewer& Nou said you #refer a cooler &hen you get home after &or" because of the fu%%-"odied taste. @hat6s so good about a full$bodied taste after &or"$es%ondent& 2 Dust li"e it. 2 &or"ed hard and it feels good to drin" something satisfying.2ntervie&erE @hy is a satisfying drin" im#ortant to you after &or"$es%ondent& Cecause it is. 2 Dust enDoy it.Interviewer E @hat &ould you drin" if you didn6t have a cooler available to you )P+$es%ondent E 3robably a light beer.Interviewer& @hat6s better about a &ine cooler as o##osed to a light beer &hen you get homeafter &or"

$es%ondent& @ell, if 2 start drin"ing beer, 2 have a hard time sto##ing. 2 Dust continue on intothe night. Cut &ith coolers 2 get fi%%ed uand it6s easy to sto . 3lus, 2 tend to not eat as muchdinner. 2ntervie&erE (o &hy is continuing to drin" into the evening something you don6t &ant todo

$es%ondent E @ell, if 2 "ee# drin"ing 2 generally fa%% as%ee #retty early and 2 don6t get a chanceto ta%/ to my (ife after the "ids go to bed. (he &or"s hard &ith the house and the "ids all day7 and it6s really im#ortant that 2 tal" to her so &e can "ee# our good relationshi#, our fami%y %ifegoing.

The summary ladder for )8+ isE

0 good family life

B able to tal" to my &ifeB don6t fall aslee#B )consume less alcohol+A filled u#/easy to sto#A full$bodied taste/ less alcohol

3. &egati e 5addering '().For the most #art, the laddering #rocedure #roceeds by #robing the things res#ondents do and

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the &ay res#ondents feel. o&ever, much can be learned by in;uiring into the reasons &hyres#ondents do not do certain things or do not &ant to feel certain &ays. This techni;ue is

#articularly relevant &hen res#ondents cannot articulate &hy they do the things they do.'9#loring hidden assum#tions in this manner and using the device of ma"ing the o##ositeassum#tion have #roven to be useful devices in ma"ing res#ondents a&are of im#lications ofcommon behaviors )Lavis, 1 =1+.

Interviewer ENou indicated a distinction bet&een 18 ounce and 1< ounce bottles. @hat si e bottle do you #refer$es%ondent E 2 al&ays buy a 18 ounce bottle.Interviewer E@hat6s the benefit of buying a 18 ounce bottle $es%ondent E 2 Dust buy it out ofhabit.Interviewer E@hy &ouldn6t you buy a 1< ounce )P+$es%ondent E 2t6stoo much for me to drin/ and it gets (arm before 2 can finish it all.Then 2 have to thro( it a(ay.Interviewer E (o ho& do you feel &hen you have to thro& it a&ay$es%ondent E2t ma"es me mad because 26m (asting my money. Interviewer E @hat6s the im$

#ortance of money to you Res#ondentE 26m in charge of the family budget, so it6s myres onsi"i%ity to ma"e sure it6s s#ent right.

The summary ladder for )*+ isE0 res#onsibility to familyB &aste moneyB thro& it a&ay )don6t drin" all of it+B gets &armB too much to drin" A larger si e

. *ge-$egression Contrast Pro"e 78 . Moving res#ondents bac"&ard in time is another effective device for encouraging res#ondentsto thin" critically about and be able to verbali e their feelings and behavior.

Interviewer ENou said you most often drin" coolers at the bar. @hy is that$es%ondent E 26ve never really thought about it. 2 Dust order them.Interviewer E2s there a difference in your drin"ing habits com#ared to a cou#le of years ago)P+$es%ondent E Nes, 2 drin" different ty#es of drin"s no&.Interviewer E@hy is that Res#ondentE @ell, before 2 used to be in college, and the only thingaround seemed to be beer.Interviewer E(o &hy do you drin" coolers no& Res#ondentE @ell, no& 2 have a career and&hen 2 do go out 2 go &ith co&or"ers. Lrin"ing a &ine cooler loo"s better than drin"ing a

beer.Interviewer E@hy is that Res#ondentE The "ott%e sha e and the fancy %a"e%loo" more

feminine than drin"ing a beer.Interviewer E @hy is that im#ortant to you$es%ondent E 2t6s im#ortant to me to have a so histicated image no& that 26m in the&or" force. 2 &ant to be Dust %i/e my co(or/ers.

The summary ladder for )?+ isE0 li"e my co&or"ers )belonging+B so#histicated imageB more feminineA bottle sha#eA fancy label

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:. Third- erson Pro"e )P+.Another device for eliciting res#onses from res#ondents &hen they find it difficult to identifytheir o&n motives or to articulate them is to as" ho& others they "no& might feel in similarcircumstances.

Interviewer ENou mentioned you drin" &ine coolers at #arties at your friend6s house. @hy doyou drin" them there$es%ondent E Just because they have them.Interviewer E@hy not drin" something else$es%ondent E 2 Dust li"e drin"ing coolers.Interviewer EWhy do you thin" your friends have them at #arties )P+$es%ondent E 2 guess they &ant to im ress us because &ine coolers are e0 ensi e. Theyrelate ;uality to ho& e0 ensi e it is.Interviewer E@hy do they &ant to im#ress others$es%ondent E (ince coolers are ne&, they are almost li"e a status sym"o%.Interviewer (o &hat is the value to them of having a status symbol$es%ondent E My friends al&ays li"e to do one better than anyone else. 2t6s #robablyrelated to their se%f-esteem.

The summary ladder for ) + isE0 self$esteemB status symbolB im#ress )others+B ;ualityA e9#ensive

*. $edirecting Techni ues< Si%ence 78 =Communication Chec/ )P+(ilence on the #art of the intervie&er can be used to ma"e the res#ondent "ee# trying to loo" for

a more a##ro#riate or definite ans&er &hen either the res#ondent is not &illing to thin" criticallyabout the ;uestion as"ed or &hen the res#ondent feels uncomfortable &ith &hat he or she islearning about themselves.

A communication chec" sim#ly refers to re#eating bac" &hat the res#ondent has said andas"ing for clarification, essentially as"ing for a more #recise e9#ression of the conce#t.

Interviewer E Nou mentioned you li"e the carbonation in a cooler. @hat6s the benefit of it$es%ondent E 2 don6t thin" there6s any benefit to carbonation.Interviewer E @hy do you li"e it in a cooler$es%ondent E o #articular reason.Interviewer E )silence+ )P+$es%ondent E Bome to thin" of it, carbonation ma"es it cris and refreshing.Interviewer E @hy is that im#ortant$es%ondent E 2t ma"es it thirst uenching es#ecially after mo&ing the la&n and is a #ic"$me$u#.Interviewer E et me see if 2 understand &hat you6re saying. '(() @hat do you mean bysaying a #ic"$me$u#$es%ondent E 2 mean after 2 finish it6s li"e a re(ard for com %etinga chore 2 disli"e.

The summary ladder for )

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B refreshingA cris#A carbonation

S+mmar . The reader &ill no doubt notice the similarity of these techni;ues to other ;ualita$tive intervie&ing a##roaches. The #ur#ose here has been to demonstrate their use in ladderingand to sho& ho& the ladders er se emerge from the intervie&er$res#ondent interaction.

After s#ending a fair amount of time on one ladder &ithout closure to a higher level, it be$

comes necessary to either terminate further discussion or #roceed on to another ladder and circle bac" later. 2f one attribute or conse;uence ceases to become mobile, it is of no benefit to con$tinue the laddering #rocess &ith it because time is limited. The more familiar the intervie&er be$comes &ith the techni;ues and #rocedures, the better the intervie&er is able to Dudge if an out$come can be reached in the line of ;uestioning. Cy moving on to another subDect, the res#ondentis given time to thin" more about the issue. The res#ondent may have a bloc" and the shift cansometimes resolve the #roblem.

The central idea is to "ee# the focus of the discussion on the #erson rather than on the #roductor service. This is not an easy tas" because ty#ically at some #oint the res#ondent reali es thatthe #roduct seems to have disa##eared from the conversation. nfortunately, there are situations&here techni;ues and #rocedures are unable to #roduce a means$ends chain. The res#ondent may

be inarticulate or sim#ly un&illing to ans&er. 2t also ta"es a length of time for the intervie&er totest all the techni;ues and develo# a #ersonal style that can #roduce ladders. As &ith any

;ualitative techni;ue e9#erience becomes the "ey.Ty#ically, t&o or three ladders can be obtained from roughly three$fourths of the res#ondentsintervie&ed. A##ro9imately one$fourth of the res#ondents, de#ending on the level of involve$ment in the #roduct class, cannot go beyond one ladder. The time re;uired from distinctions tofinal ladders varies substantially, of course, but < to = minutes re#resents a ty#ical standard.

,nal sisContent ,nal sis. As over$vie&ed earlier, the initial tas" of the analysis is to content$analy e

all of the elements from the ladders. The first ste# is to record the entire set of ladders acrossres#ondents on a se#arate coding form. aving ins#ected them for com#leteness and havingdevelo#ed an overall sense of the ty#es of elements elicited, the ne9t ste# is to develo# a set ofsummary codes that reflect everything that &as mentioned. This is done by first classifying allres#onses into the three basic A/B/0 levels and then further brea"ing do&n all res#onses into

individual summary codes )see Table 2 for &ine$cooler codes+.Kbviously, one &ants to achieve broad enough categories of meaning to get re#lications ofmore than one res#ondent saying one element leads to another. Net, if the coding is too broad, toomuch meaning is lost. The "ey to #roducing consistency in this stage, as in all content analysis, isreliability chec"s across multi#le coders.

2m#ortantly, the goal at this level of the analysis is to focus on meanings central to the #ur#oseof the study, remembering that it is the relationshi#s bet&een the elements that are the focus ofinterest, not the elements themselves. For e9am#le, 4avoids the negatives of alcohol5 in Figure 1is a summari ation of several more detailed elements )namely, not too fired, not too drun", don6tsay dumb things, and don6t get numb+. 2f all those se#arate elements &ere given se#arate codes itis li"ely6 that none of the relations bet&een them and other elements &ould have very highfre;uencies, and they &ould not a##ear in the 0M.

Knce the master codes are finali ed, numbers are assigned to each. These numbers are then

used to score each element in each ladder #roducing a matri9 &ith ro&s re#resenting an indi$vidual res#ondent6s ladder )one res#ondent can have multi#le ladders and thus multi#le ro&s+,&ith the se;uential elements &ithin the ladder corres#onding to the consecutive column desig$nations. Thus the number of columns in the matri9 corres#onds to the number of elements in thelongest ladder #lus any identification or demogra#hic codes. )(ee the A##endi9 for thehy#othetical score matri9 re#resenting one ladder for

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&ell as #roviding the ability to summari e by subgrou# )e.g., men only+.

!able -S+mmar Content Codes #or %othetical /ine Cooler E0am%le

0alues)8 + Accom#lishment)81+ Family)88+ Celonging)8*+ (elf$esteem

Bonse;uences!+ Quality

+ Filling)1 + Refreshing

)11+ Bonsume less)18+ Thirst$;uenching)1*+ More feminine)1?+ Avoid negatives)1 + Avoid &aste)1

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%othetical ierarchical 1al+e Ma% o# /ine Cooler Bategory(elf$esteem 8* Family ife 81O feel better O maintain res#ect about self of othersO self 2mage O better family ties

O self &orth S Celonging 88 S

O security S O camaraderie S O friendshi# SAccom#lishment 8 / S SO get most from life / S S Impress Others 18 Socialize 19 S O successful image )able to+ S / S O easier to tal" S / S O o#en u# S / S O more sociable S

Reward 16 SophistIcated Image 17 | SO satisfying O #ersonal status SO com#ensation O ho& others vie& me S

/ S / Avoid Negatives S / / !ore "emi#i#e 1$ of Alcohol 1% Avoid &aste 1' / / O socially O not too drun" O doesn6t get(hirst)*+e#chi#g 1, / acce#table O not too tired &armO relieves thirst S / S SO not too sour S / S S / S / S S

/ S / S S Re-reshi#g 1. +alit0 8 | | o#s+me less 11

O feel alert, O su#erior #roduct S O can6t drin" morealive 2 #roduct ;uality S O can si# S

/ S / S S / S / S S

/ S / S S / S / S abel Cottle ess (maller (i e

Barbonation Bris# '9#ensive )fancy+ )sha#e+ Alcohol Filling )1 o .+ ) + 1 8

) + * ? < =

Lirect relations refer to im#licative relations among adDacent elements. The designations of)A+ through )'+ for the elements refer sim#ly to the se;uential order &ithin the ladder. That is,given our &ine cooler e9am#leE

Celonging )'+able to sociali e )L+avoid negatives of alcohol )B+consume less )C+

filling )A+

The A$C )4filling7consume less5+ relation is a direct one as is C$B, B$L, and L$'. o&ever,&ithin any given ladder there are many more indirect relations, A$B, A$L, A$', C$L, and soforth. 2t is useful to e9amine both ty#es of relations in determining &hat #aths are dominant in anaggregate ma# of relationshi#s among elements. @ithout e9amining indirect relations, a situationmight e9ist &here there are many #aths by &hich t&o elements may be indirectly connected but&here none of the #aths are re#resented enough times to re#resent a significant connection. Fore9am#le, there may be other #aths by &hich 4avoids negatives of alcohol66 leads to 4belonging.5

evertheless, it is hel#ful to "ee# trac" of the number of times 4avoids negatives of alcohol5ultimately leads to 4belonging5 &hen e9amining the strength of ladders as derived from theaggregate matri9 of relations.

Another o#tion in constructing the overall matri9 of relations among elements is &hether tocount each mention of a relationshi# among elements that an individual res#ondent ma"es or tocount a relation only once for each res#ondent, no matter ho& many times each res#ondentmentions it. Given the #revious ladder as an e9am#le, if 4filling 7consumes less5 leads to

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several higher level associations for a given individual, do you count that indirect relation asmany times as it occurs, or Dust once #er res#ondent The significance of an element is in #art afunction of the number of connections it has &ith other elements, &hich argues for counting allmentions, but it does distort the construction of the ma# &here there are sur#risingly fe& )tothose not familiar &ith this research+ connections bet&een elements in the overall matri9. Kften,of all the cells having any relations, only one$half &ill be mentioned by as many as threeres#ondents.

Table 8 #resents the ro&$column fre;uency matri9 indicating the number of times directly andindirectly all ro& elements lead to all column elements. The numbers are e9#ressed in fractionalform &ith direct relations to the left of the decimal and indirect relations to the right of thedecimal. Thus 4carbonation5 )element 1+ leads to 4thirst$;uenching5 )element 18+ four timesdirectly and si9 times indirectly. More #recisely, this means that four res#ondents saidcarbonation directly leads to thirst$;uenching, &hereas t&o res#ondents se;uentially related thet&o elements &ith another element in bet&een.

Constr+cting the ierarchical 1al+e Ma%. In filling in the im#lication matri9, individual re$s#ondent6s ladders are decom#osed into their direct and indirect com#onents )see Table 8+. 2nconstructing the 0M, 4chains5 have to be reconstructed from the aggregate data. To avoidconfusion, the term 4ladders5 &ill refer to the elicitations from individual res#ondents> the term4chains5 &ill be used in reference to se;uences of elements &hich emerge from the aggregateim#lication matri9.

To construct a 0M from the matri9 of aggregate relations, one begins by consideringadDacent relations, that is, if A 7U C and C7U B and B 7U L, then a chain A$C$B$L is formed.There doesn6t necessarily have to be an individual &ith an A$C$B$0 ladder for an A$C$B$L chainto emerge from the analysis. A 0M is gradually built u# by connecting all the chains that areformed by considering the lin"ages in the large matri9 of relations among elements.The most ty#ical a##roach is to try to ma# all relations above several different cutoff levels)usually from * to relations, given a sam#le of to < individuals+. The use of multi#lecutoffs #ermits the researcher to evaluate several solutions, choosing the one that a##earE> to bethe most informative and most stable set of relations. 2t is ty#ical that a cutoff of ? relations &ith

res#ondents and 18 ladders &ill account for as many as t&o$thirds of all relations among ele$ments. 2ndeed, the number of relations ma##ed in relation to the number of relations in thes;uare

!able 3S+mmar Im%lication Matri0(

! 1 11 18 1* 1? 1 1< 1= 1! 1 8 81 88 8* 1 Barbonation 1. 1 . ?. < . 1 .1? . ? . < . ? 1 8 Bris# *. ?. . ? . ? . * . ? . 1 . = 8 * '9#ensive 18. 8. ? 1. 1 1. 1. < . . * ? abel 8. 8. 8 8. ? . 8 . 1 . 8 . * ? Cottle sha#e 1. 1. 8. 8 1. * . 8 . * < ess alcohol 1. 1. . . 1 . 1 1. 1 . ? . 1 Carbonation4sel#?esteem@ chain

= - -= -3 -* -A 36 =1 . 1 . ?. < .1? . ? . ? 1?.8 )8+ for assessing brands or #roducts in a fashion similar to the use of more traditional ratings> )*+ evaluatingcom#etitive advertising> and )?+ as a basis for develo#ing advertising strategies.

Segmentation. The goal of segmentation schemes is to classify res#ondents &ith res#ect tosome as#ect of their behavior, attitudes, or dis#ositions in a &ay that hel#s us understand them asconsumers. The values orientations in a #erson6s ladder may serve as the basis for classification,or the researcher may grou# these values at a still higher level. it is also #ossible to includeattribute$value connections in the segmentation scheme. Knce a segmentation scheme has beendevelo#ed, res#ondents6 brand$consum#tion behavior or reactions to advertising may beassessed.

Table includes a summary by attribute and value for res#ondents &hose ladders e9tended tothe values level. 4Celonging5 &as included in the most ladders, &ith 4self$esteem,5 4accom#lish$ment,5 and 4family life5 follo&ing in decreasing order of fre;uency )nine ladders did not reachthe values level and thus are omitted from this analysis+. The values can be grou#ed at a higherlevel using 4achievement5 and 4social5 as higher$level value orientations. An e;ual number ofsubDects fall into each of these t&o values$level orientations.Kne could also include the attribute$value connections in the segmentation scheme, assessingthem at the levels used in the 0M or in grou#ing them as sho&n in Table into mar"eting$mi9com#onents. 2n this e9am#le, the attributes 4less alcohol5 and 4filling5 are lin"ed to socialvalues, &hereas 4#rice5 is tied more closely to achievement values. 43ac"aging5 attributes aree;ually divided, although 4si e5 is identified &ith social values, not achievement values.

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!able Ladder 9re +encies #or ,ttrib+te?1al+e LinFage

Achievement (ocial Accom#lishment (elf$esteem Total Celonging Family life Total

)1?+ )1 + )8 + )8 + ) + )8 +3hysical attributes < ? 1 1 = 1=Barbonation < ? 1 Bris# = =

ess alcohol 1 ?Filling 8 *3rice = 18 3ac"aging 1 < = 8 = abel 1 * ? 8 8 (ha#e * * 8 8 (i e 1 8 *

ine ladders did not reach the values level.

Res#ondent segments could be studied for brand$consum#tion differences and #references andadvertising reactions evaluated. These segmentation bases could be translated into larger scaleresearch on brand usage and #reference and advertising theme evaluation. That is, the findingsfrom this research could become the basis for more traditional #a#er$and$#encil methods thatmore readily lend themselves to large$scale data collection.

3roduct/Crand Assessment 'valuation of a #roduct or brand is another im#ortant mar"eting

;uestion for &hich the results of laddering research may be of use. 2t is advantageous to allo& re$s#ondents to use their o&n frame of reference &hen #roviding their evaluations of a brand ratherthan some researcher$su##lied attributes that may not be the subDect6s o&n. For many #roductcategories or subclasses of categories, res#ondents are much more li"ely to ma"e #reference

Dudgments at the conse;uence and values levels than at the attribute level )Reynolds, Gutman,and Fiedler, 1 !?> Reynolds and Jamieson, 1 !?+.

A statistical a##roach, Bognitive Lifferentiation Analysis )BLA+, has been develo#ed)Reynolds, 1 !*> Reynolds and (utric", 1 !

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&hen #erceived in the conte9t of different levels of abstraction )attribute, conse;uence, andvalue+. To accom#lish this, after laddering, &hen res#ondents are sensiti ed to the com#leterange of their internal feelings about a #roduct class, they are sho&n a series of ads and as"ed torate them on the e9tent to &hich the ad communicates at each level and to #rovide somecomment on &hy it does or does not communicate at that level.

Analysis of these comments leads to the construction of a series of statements reflecting theircontent. To further broaden the coverage of these statements, a model de#icting an advertisingresearch #aradigm can be used )see Figure 8+. This model )Reynolds and Trivedi+ indicates thecom#onents of an ad in relation to levels of involvement the consumer may have &ith the ad.Fifty to si9ty statements can be develo#ed covering the advertising6s message elements, e9ecu$tional frame&or"s, #erce#tions of the advertisers6 strategy and involvement &ith the ad, involve$ment of the ad &ith the res#ondent6s #ersonal life, and the e9tent to &hich the ad ta#s into valuesat a #ersonal level.These statements can then be used to assess the relative communication at the various levels.

9ig+re 3,dvertising $esearch Paradigm "ased on Means?End Chain Model and ierarchical 1al+e

Str+ct+re ,nal sis

Ad 3ersonevel o& ad relates to #ersonal values

@hat ad ma"es me thin" of

> Consumer ,enefit> 3erce#tions of Involvementof advertisers6 strategy @hat ad does to me &hile 2 &atch

0ecutiona% ?rame(or/> Actors/situations

> @essage %ements> Attributes

Abstraction

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This can be accom#lished, after a sensiti ing laddering #rocedure, by sho&ing ads and as"ing 4if the follo&ing statement a##lies5 to each res#ective ad. This #rocess can be o#erationali ed by agame$board a##roach )Gutman and Reynolds, 1 !=+ &here a triangle is #rovided to the res#on$dent &ith each verte9 re#resenting a se#arate ad. The use of three ads is suggested as an attem#tto avoid the res#ondent from becoming too much of an advertising e9#ert. As each statement isread the res#ondent can record the a##licability to one ad )recording the statement code at theres#ective verte9+, or t&o ads )recording on the connecting line+, or all three )recording in themiddle of the triangle+. 2f the statement does not a##ly to any of the three ads, a 4not a##licable5res#onse alternative is also #rovided.

The resulting #ercentage endorsement of each statement for each advertisement #rovides agood indication of ho& the ad is vie&ed and the level at &hich the ad communicates. That is,some ads may communicate &ell at the attribute level but not at the conse;uence or values level.Bonversely, other ads may communicate &ell at the values level but be &ea" at the attributelevel. An effective ad in this conte9t is defined as one &hich communicates across all levels,lin"ing attributes to benefits and to #ersonal values &hich often drive consumer decision$ma"ing.

Develo%ing ,dvertising Strateg . 3erha#s the maDor benefit of laddering is the insight it #rovides to advertising strategists. A definition of advertising communications &hich &ill #ermitadvertising strategies to be develo#ed from the 0M &ill be briefly discussed )see Reynolds andGutman H1 !?I for a fuller discussion and illustration+. The levels of abstraction frame&or",&hich underlie the formation of means$end chains, #rovide a basis for coordinating the results ofladdering to advertising strategy develo#ment. That is, the #erce#tual constructs de#icted in the

0M can be used as the basis for develo#ing a strategy that &ill a##eal to consumers &ith that #articular orientation to&ard the #roduct class.

Figure * sho&s the Means$'nds Bonce#tuali ation of Bom#onents of Advertising (trategy)M'BBA(+ in terms of five broad characteristics that corres#ond to the levels of abstractionconce#tuali ation )Klson and Reynolds, 1 !*> Reynolds and Gutman, 1 !?+. 4Lriving force,54consumer benefit,5 and 4message elements5 are directly coordinated to the values, conse$;uences, and attributes levels of the means$end model. The e9ecutional frame&or" relates to thescenario for the advertisement7 the 4vehicle5 by &hich the value orientation is to be communi$cated. The s#ecification of this tone for the advertisement is a critical as#ect of strategy s#ecifi$cation. 2t comes from an overall understanding of the &ay of #erceiving the #roduct class as indi$cated by a #articular means$end #ath. As is a##arent &ith this s#ecification, added guidance can

be given to creatives &ithout infringing on their creativity.The remaining and "ey as#ect of advertising strategy s#ecification is the conce#t of :leverage #oint.5 aving all the other elements in mind, it is finally necessary to s#ecify the manner by&hich the values$level focus &ill be activated for the advertisement, that is, ho& the valuesconsiderations in the advertisement are connected to the s#ecific features of the advertisement.)'9am#les of advertising strategy s#ecifications are not #rovided7the references cited above

#rovide am#le illustrations.+ onetheless, the advantages of being able to s#ecify advertising strategy for all relevant

#arties7 management, creatives, and researchers7can be revie&ed. The strategy statementitself becomes a concrete &ay of s#ecifying advertising strategy alternatives. These alternativesare lin"ed to the chains &hich underlie them, and thus a direct connection e9ists bet&een thestrategy and the #erce#tual orientation of the consumer. Furthermore, the M'BBA( modelcou#led &ith the results from the 0M facilitate the develo#ment of several )truly different+

strategies for com#arison and revie&. astly, &hen a strategy has been seVO lected for e9ecution,the M'BBA( model #rovides for a better common understanding of &hat the final #roductshould be. This obviously leads to the use of the M'BBA( s#ecification as the basis forevaluating the effectiveness of the advertisement.

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9ig+re 6Means?Ends Conce%t+ali ation o# Com%onents o# ,dvertising Strateg

!ri ing ?orce The value orientation of the strategyE the end$level to be focused on in theadvertising.

5e erage Point $The manner by &hich the advertising &ill :ta# into,5 reach, or activate the valueor end$level of focus> the s#ecific "ey &ay in &hich the value is lin"ed to the s#ecificfeatures of the advertising.

0ecutiona% ?rame(or/ The overall scenario or action #lot, #lus the details of the advertisinge9ecution. The e9ecutional frame&or" #rovides the 4vehicle5 by &hich the valueorientation is communicated> es#ecially the gestalt of the advertisement> its overalltone and style.

Consumer ,enefit The maDor #ositive conse;uences for the consumer that are e9#licitlycommunicated. verbally or visually, in the advertising.

@essage %ements The s#ecific attributes, conse;uences, or features about the #roduct that arecommunicated verbally or visually.

S+mmarThis article revie&s and illustrates the techni;ue of laddering both as an intervie&ing #rocess

and through subse;uent analysis. 2t demonstrates the techni;ue6s usefulness in develo#ing an un$derstanding of ho& consumers translate the attributes of #roducts into meaningful associations&ith res#ect to self$defining attitudes and values. The underlying theory behind the method,Means$'nd Theory, is discussed, as &ell as the elements of the means$end chains re#resentingthe cognitive levels of abstractionE attributes, conse;uences, and values.

The intervie& environment necessary for laddering to ta"e #lace is given s#ecial attentionalong &ith the #articular #robing techni;ues em#loyed in the ;ualitative #rocess of laddering.Casically, the res#ondent has to feel as if on a voyage of self$discovery and that the obDect of thetri# is to revisit everyday, common#lace e9#eriences and e9amine the assum#tions and desiresdriving seemingly sim#le choice behavior.

(everal s#ecific intervie&ing devices are described for eliciting #roduct distinctions from re$s#ondents that serve to initiate the laddering #rocess, among them the use of triads, e9#loring

#reference$consum#tion differences, and e9amining ho& consum#tion differs by occasion. Thevalue of the occasional conte9t, #roviding a concrete frame of reference to generate meaningfuldistinctions, is em#hasi ed. Kther techni;ues Vor moving the laddering intervie& u#&ard &hen

bloc"ing occurs are also discussed and illustrated.The analysis of laddering data is detailed noting the critical difference bet&een this method$

ology and more traditional ;ualitative research, namely, the #rimary out#ut being )structurally+;uantitative in nature in the form of a hierarchical value ma# ) 0M+. 2n this vein, the contentanalysis of ladder elements is #ositioned as an im#ortant ste# in this 4crossing over5 from the;ualitative to ;uantitative.

Letailed attention is #aid to the construction of the 0M from the im#lication matri9, &hichre#resents the number of direct and indirect lin"ages bet&een the ;ualitative conce#ts elicitedduring the laddering #rocess. Five ty#es of relations among elements are discussed, and theirres#ective im#lications for constructing a 0M are illustrated.

aving the 0M to &or" &ith, the ne9t ste# in transforming the out#ut of laddering intouseful information for mar"eting decision$ma"ing is to determine the dominant #erce#tualorientations. That is, all #otential #ath&ays )connections among elements+ must be e9amined todetermine their relative strength of association. T&o #rimary considerations are s#ecified &ith

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e9am#les, namely, the number of relations among elements &ithin the chain and the e9tent to&hich all elements are interconnected.

astly, the issue of a##lications is discussed referencing the "ey research #roblems of #erce#tual segmentation, determining the im#ortance &eights of the various com#onents of theladders, and the develo#ment and subse;uent assessment of advertising from this value #er$s#ective. All of the a##lication areas have in common that they de#end on laddering6s ability todra& out from the res#ondent the true basis for any meaningful connection they have to the

#roduct class.

$e#erencesAbelson, Robert. 4The 3sycho$logical (tatus of the (cri#t Bonce#t5 *merican Psycho%ogist *