Laddering: Unveiling data Gathering an Interpretation

Abstract

Laddering is a research technique very appropriate when there is a focus on customer value and personal value understanding. It is an in deep one to one interview with content analysis used to develop knowledge on how the attributes of products can be translated to meaningful associations related to it. It is followed by the means-end chains theory, which is a construction of attributes, that take to consequences there are moved by ones personal value. Although it is opportune in marketing studies when investigating human behavior, there is a limited number of publications using it because the practical application may discourage researches. Thus, this study aims to light the marketing activity to discuss the technique and describe the main stages of the research (interviews, data collection and analysis). The description of this process was taken from a real research using the technique. It was found that even exploratory, the technique provides valuable information to support decisions in Marketing.