Climbing up to drill down

Editor's note: Brenda K. Johnson is director of QualQuan Insights, Inc., a Maplewood, N.J., research firm. Diane Liewehr is vice president, JPMorgan Chase & Co., New York. Kalpana Biswas is research associate, Prescott & Associates, a Pittsburgh research firm.

The general assumption in consumer research is that people select products based on a combination of product or image attributes that lead them to expect certain desired outcomes or consequences. For example, a consumer may find a product's convenience appealing because it means she can spend more time with her children. A qualitative research technique called laddering takes this process further, deconstructing consumer decision-making by uncovering the link between desired outcomes and a set of core personal values that govern a consumer's world view.

During the laddering process, the interviewer asks a participant a series of "Why is that important or relevant to you?" "What is the benefit of that?" or "What does that mean to you?" questions in a focused, and often intense, one-on-one interview process. Laddering encourages participants to delve deeper and deeper into their psyche to discover the frequently complex pathways between tangible product attributes and an often unconscious network of inner motivations.

A researcher is typically able to ladder three or four product attributes that are of particular importance to each participant during a session. An analysis of the means-end ladders of the entire sample may lead to the discovery of commonalities in personal ladders or meaning systems that could define particular consumer segments and enable more sharply focused positioning or marketing strategies.

The face-to-face approach has, so far, been considered the most appropriate way to achieve richly detailed explorations of personal connections between product attributes, physical consequences, emotional consequences, and personal values or life goals. But improvements in the software used to conduct online qualitative research and corresponding enhancements in researchers' online moderating skills have opened up two important avenues to advance the practice and decrease the cost of laddering. First, it has now become possible to conduct laddering exercises online, to take advantage of the flexibility, versatility, and geographic reach of the new medium. Second, a modified "one-on-several" simultaneous individual laddering exercise offers potential for significant cost-cutting opportunities - an important consideration in the current economic climate.

A simple hypothesis

This article illustrates the successful use of an alternative platform for conducting laddering drills. We began with a simple hypothesis: online laddering drills can uncover links between product attributes and consumer emotions equivalent to those achieved through traditional methods. Our hypothesis was supported by results obtained during a side-by-side comparison of online versus offline research platforms. If laddering drills can indeed be effectively conducted online without sacrificing quality, the next step is to examine the financial implications of using online versus traditional offline platforms.

Our research project, for a new Chase financial product, followed an intensive quantitative and qualitative research process, including eight online focus groups with two to four participants in each group, and 12 one-on-one in-depth interviews. An additional three telephone interviews were added to round out the exploration of traditional versus online platforms.

The article will show that:

  • participants are well-behaved, involved, and cooperative during laddering drills - online or offline;
  • emotional links across platforms are equivalent in quality and direction;
  • imagery from the online platform is solid, evocative and not lacking in emotional content; and
  • real dollar savings are available by leveraging the features of the virtual online space.

Topic guide

In preparation for the research, a detailed topic guide was constructed, programmed into the online chat software, and then presented to a group of eight participants in an online focus group.

The computer screen was split into two frames. The online moderating, probing, and participant reaction occurred in the frame below the display area, commonly referred to as the "whiteboard." The whiteboard is used to present stimuli for participants to react to and discuss, and can be enlarged by participants for a better view. Stimuli presented on the whiteboard are usually limited to Web site evaluations, new product or service concepts, print ads, or other text-based stimuli.

Methodologically, online laddering offers a significant benefit over in-person interviews: it enables the simultaneous participation of two to three respondents in parallel laddering processes in real time, facilitated by a single moderator. In this model, enhanced by the "review button" and the whiteboard, one moderator conducts two to three parallel online interviews within a mini-group structure, with the interviewees responding to the same broad questions.

(The review button is a software feature of the virtual focus group facility that allows the moderator to edit any preloaded questions before hitting the "send" button and allowing participants to see and react to the questions. This button also lets the moderator create questions on-the-fly for reaction by the entire group of participants, by a select few, or by just one individual. Use of this button enhanced the research process because the moderator was able to individualize questions simultaneously to conduct the individual laddering drills in a group environment.)

A series of customized probes, based on previous responses, keeps each individual in his or her own separate emotional track. The ability of the moderator to multi-task in this context (to read and respond cogently to two or three parallel streams) is key to the model's success, as demonstrated in our research.

The specific features of this model that contributed to the success of online laddering are:

  • Establishing the ground rules under which participants are to communicate during the laddering drills

A brief warm-up, during which respondents are able to interact with each other, encourages respondent involvement and cooperation. However, it is crucial to establish very quickly thereafter that respondents must focus on and respond only to questions specifically directed at or relevant to them. The detailed introduction instructs each respondent to conduct an individual conversation with the moderator.

  • Prefacing all questions with the names of the respondents in order to focus and direct the individual interviews

Once familiar with the process, respondents are able to keep to their own customized "tracks" directed by the sight of their names and their individualized questions. The moderator uses cut-and-paste methods to personalize the next question by using the respondents' own words from previous answers.

  • Sensing and maintaining a certain optimum speed of response for each respondent

This speed should be rapid enough to keep the respondent occupied with his or her own response track yet allow each respondent time to provide detailed and thoughtful responses. When familiar with the procedure, respondents are quick to scan messages to seek out and answer those directed at them.

  • Multi-tasking skills of the moderator

Online qualitative research requires the moderator to possess additional skills. He or she of course must be experienced in moderating, but additionally must be proficient technologically in multi-tasking in virtual space. This may take some time for moderators to get used to. Some will simply shy away from this online platform and, in defense, assert that "it can't be done" or "online does not give you the same information."

  • Bonding quickly with online participants

The sooner the online participant feels he or she can trust the moderator, the sooner the required information flows. This result is very consistent with conventional focus groups. Tricks that help the moderator obtain early trust include mutual sharing of some personal details during the brief warm-up, recognizing each participant as an individual, speaking to them frequently to affirm/acknowledge their input, and probing when needed.

Cost-saving benefits

The added values that online laddering offers over traditional methods are cost efficiencies and geographical reach. The typical ratio of interview lengths of in-person versus online interviews is 1:1.5 (e.g., 60 minutes in-person to 90 minutes online). With a parallel laddering sample design, the following efficiencies can be expected:

  • one facility rental for every three respondents, as against one-to-one for in-person interviews;
  • one-hour rental per in-person respondent, as against 90 minutes for three respondents online (or an average of 30 minutes per online respondent);
  • 180 cumulative minutes of information for three in-person interviewees, as against 270 cumulative minutes for three online interviewees;
  • one moderator for three interviews during 90 minutes, as against one moderator for one interview during 60 minutes;
  • participant incentives are lower for online sessions;
  • recruitment costs may be lower.

The geographic reach of the online project was aptly demonstrated during our research project; the participants of the online groups were drawn from different states across the U.S. In order to keep costs down, unless performed through the telephone, traditional laddering is usually clustered in a few select locations. Thus, data collection in multiple states becomes more expensive as compared to online laddering.

Results

The ability and willingness of online respondents to reveal their emotional links to the test product supported the hypothesis that there are few media-specific advantages or disadvantages when constructing ladders or means-end chains.

The new product being tested in the research was an e-payment option that allows users to easily and quickly send money to anyone, anywhere, including friends, family, and merchants, in a secure online environment. It can be used with a consumer's existing checking account or credit card account. A new banking account isn't necessary.

Chart 1

Charts 1 and 2 demonstrate the similarities in the quality of information across the three media tested - online, in-person, and telephone. Chart 3 shows how three respondents in the same online focus group, responding to the same general questions about product appeal and salience, arrived at three different means-end constructs, based on their own personal priorities.

Chart 2


Chart 3

The online laddering drills produced imagery valuable for brand positioning, advertising, and other forms of marketing communication. The research demonstrated that people can be emotionally expressive and articulate when online, and can provide evocative imagery in their responses. Some insights and imagery obtained from these online laddering drills include:

"It gives me control over bill paying that the postal service does not."

"I love the immediate gratification which comes from online shopping. Sometimes I buy items I need promptly. Other times I buy online as a treat to myself - and I don't want to wait for a treat to arrive."

"A sense of relief. I would hate to think that I couldn't purchase a new house, etc., for my family because of stupidity. If you do not pay your bills on time you will pay for it in the end when you expect people to trust you with a loan."

"Saturday afternoon I log online and find I have an e-mail from my sister-in-law who lives 1,500 miles away. She wants me to FedEx some lobsters to her and has sent me the money. I stop by the ATM near my home, withdraw the cash, go to the fish market. They're having lobster for dinner Monday night!"

"Sending my stepdaughter money was fast and easy. Considering that we are in the middle of a blizzard in CT, it was easy to do. Now, she can get her car out of the snowbank. She forgot her purse. Going out into a blizzard is not fun, especially when my stepdaughter is 30 miles away. Getting the money into her hands ASAP is important to take care of her child and give me peace of mind that I was able to help her out in this emergency."

"Makes it possible to spend more time on things you can't get back, can't recover."

Some key learning from laddering online:

  • The virtual waiting room provided the opportunity to prescreen for actual online laddering participation.
  • Participants were well-behaved, expressive, and eager to communicate during the online laddering drills. Establishing the "rules of engagement" provided both the structure and flexibility to online laddering.
  • Online laddering offers a surprising benefit: moderator and participants can toggle between individual interviews and interactive discussion.
  • The software features of a virtual chat room provide the opportunity to engage in, creatively direct, and enrich online laddering.

No loss in data

Our research found that the online environment can be used to identify key product and image attributes to establish brand essence and emotional links to a new financial product. Some of the language consumers used was incorporated into the new product launch and promotion campaigns. A side-by-side comparison of online, face-to-face, and telephone interviews provided support for the hypothesis that there is no loss in data when online laddering is conducted. Vivid language and imagery were obtained through the online platform and this information was found to be consistent with that gleaned from face-to-face/telephone one-on-one interviews. Finally, the research identified some specific criteria that can render online laddering effective, and this effectiveness translates into cost savings for clients.