Editor’s note: Patrick Quinlan is principal of Quinlan & Associates, an Adrian, Mich., research firm and is also professor of marketing at Adrian College.

The first, laddering, is a theory of consumer behavior and an interviewing technique based on a theory of consumer behavior which suggests that consumer selections result from their perceptions of the relationships between physical attributes, the consequences to the consumer that result from possession of these attributes and more “core” values connected to the consequences.

The creation of these means-end chains, or ladders, results from an in-depth, one-on-one interviewing technique termed laddering. Laddering is an interviewing technique using a series of probes designed to elicit the attribute, consequences and values chains. One of the problematic components of the interview itself is for the interviewer to recognize when the core values have been reached. Many theories exist that describe what these core values actually are. I have found the paradigm of self-esteem, developed by Sharon and Glenn Livingston, to be particularly useful.

Once the series of laddering interviews is completed, the report is written, including a map to visually communicate the results. The type of interviewing and report-writing skill required for successful laddering projects is unique, but practitioners can be found. A good source would be the membership of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association.

The laddering example used in this article is a modified version of an actual project conducted to provide insight into consumer perceptions of the cell phone category for the purpose of repositioning one of the brands.

Figure 1, the map of cell phone category, is the result of the series of in-depth laddering interviews. The solid lines communicate connections felt by respondents. One of the notable occurrences in the interviews was the importance respondents attached to the attribute-consequence-values chains on the right-hand side of the ladder. A well-written report will also reveal important variations in the ladder results by subgroups while still creating a map that captures the core means-end chains for a category. In this project, the gender differences revealed in the interviews were significant.

Laddering is a useful tool for category exploration, when needing to understand the benefits associated with a category, as a starting point for marketing communication strategy development or as a guide to developing a positioning strategy.

It is not a way to measure current consumer perceptions of the actual alternative brands in a category. That is the focus of another map, a perceptual map.

Uses are many

Perceptual mapping is a term used to describe a category of survey-based research that measures consumer perceptions of the members of a competitive category on relevant attributes, consequences or values. The managerial uses of this visual representation of a category are many and can include:

1. Market description.

This application can identify which brands in a category are competing with which others, thereby providing a description of the market structure.

2. Market segmentation.

Although not an ideal segmentation approach, perceptual maps can provide insight into possible clustering of consumers in a market.

3. Idea generation for product development.

Unoccupied spaces in a perceptual map can suggest opportunity for new product development.

4. Concept development and testing.

It is possible to ask consumers to provide their perceptions of concepts that can then be integrated with perceptions of actual entries in a category. This provides insight into the perceptions of a new product, prior to the actual physical development and commercialization of the product.

5. Positioning research.

As an early step in deciding on the positioning goal for a brand, or as a means to measure if that goal has actually been reached, perceptual maps can provide an alternative to guessing how consumers perceive competitors in a category.

Perceptual mapping is more than a tool to measure perceptions at a point in time. It can be used to track shifts in perceptions over time.

Perceptual mapping comes in a variety of forms that differ in terms of data collection methods and data analysis procedures used to create the maps. The approach used in our example is that of correspondence analysis.

Correspondence analysis is an approach to the creation of perceptual maps that relies on respondents being asked to provide a binary, yes-or-no rating of each brand on the attributes, consequences or values selected for the study. This user-friendly approach can greatly improve response rates and could be a better reflection of the actual process that results in the images created, stored and used by consumers. Other approaches to perceptual mapping rely on a respondent rating a brand’s possession of an attribute, consequence or value on an interval scale.

The data input to correspondence analysis is a data matrix relating the attributes (represented as rows) to the brands (represented as columns).   The BrandMap software from WRC Research Services Inc. utilized in this study relies on an Excel worksheet as the input matrix, with the brands heading the columns and the attributes, consequences or values heading the rows. The frequency with which the total sample checked each combination is the input to the cells.

Correspondence analysis is based on transformation of a chi-square value, calculated as the actual frequency of occurrence, minus the expected frequency of occurrence. In statistical terms, the expected value is based on the row (attribute) and column (brand) marginal probabilities. High positive values indicate a strong degree of correspondence between the attribute and brand and negative values have the opposite interpretation. High values for brands on an attribute indicate that the brands and attributes should appear closer on a map. Negative values for brands on the same attribute would indicate a position on the map farther from the attribute’s location.

The correspondence procedure satisfies all these relationships simultaneously by performing an analysis similar to factor analysis, producing dimensions representing these chi-square distances. Like factor analysis, a cumulative percent of variation appears in the statistical output as does a measure of the contribution of each attribute consequence or value to the factor. As with any technique, it is important to tailor the report and presentation to the decision makers. Unless dealing with mangers comfortable with statistical procedures, the focus should be on the resulting map and the relationships between brands and attributes, with the statistical output appearing in the appendix of the report for those desiring a more technical explanation of results.

Although some degree of caution needs to be exercised with this interpretation, the closer an attribute, consequence or value appears to a brand on the map, the more that brand is perceived as possessing that attribute, consequence or value, with the opposite also true.

In addition to the “pick any” section of the questionnaire that creates the raw material for inclusion into the matrix, the questionnaire also included a measure of the importance of each attribute that was included in the study, a demographic identifier section and a category behavior section.

Managerially relevant

With all measures of consumer behavior that include multiple attributes, generating a list that is exhaustive and managerially relevant is problematic. In this particular project, the laddering results, a secondary data search and manager beliefs all contributed to the final decision as to what would be included and appear on the final map. 

For sake of illustration, let’s assume the objective of the project was to develop a positioning strategy for Brand T.   From the cell phones perceptual map (Figure 2) we can see that this brand has done an effective job of differentiating itself from competitors but it does not have an image associated with any particular attribute. The map also reveals that reliable service, the most important feature to sample members, is not an attribute that any of the brands are perceived as possessing to any great extent.

Thinking about Brand T, it would certainly be true that if this brand could actually deliver more reliable service than competitors, an attractive position for the brand is the upper right-hand corner of the map.

However, it is in the second step of positioning, the development of a strategy to move to a position, where the laddering results can help. If reliable service is selected as the positioning goal, we have learned from the laddering study the consumer connections between reliable service, the consequences of peace of mind, being connected to family and being easy to contact. These were all eventually connected to the core value of belonging. This provides direction for the creation of a communication strategy that will resonate with target audiences while allowing creative license in the actual creative path taken.

In addition, the demographic and category behavior sections of the questionnaire allow creation of maps for subgroups that can aid understanding of perceptions. In this situation, maps based on gender revealed potential for more targeted positioning, if desired.

Whole can be greater

Historically, qualitative and quantitative research have been thought of as procedures that compete for research dollars. But as this example shows, they can often be used in a complementary manner where the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.