Laddering Assignment: Rohan Srivastava, 1501096 Consumer Profle: Mr. Sanjay Kumar Gupta is a 28 years old Mechanical Engineer from Gorakhpur, Uttar radesh !ho !orks for "harat #ea$y Elelctricals %imited at &iruchirapalli. #e has 'een li$ing in &richy since last ( years. Sanjay descri'es himself as a person !ho is really out going and lo$es interacting !ith people. #e 'elie$es that his people)s skills are his 'iggest asset. #e is $ery tech sa$$y person !ho is a!are of current current ongoings in technology and takes a keen interest in kno!ing a'out it. Sanjay li$es !ith his mother in &richy)s "#E% &o!nship. #e plays *ricket and "adminton in his free time. #e has a deep faith in +oga and yur$eda. #e practices +oga daily to keep himself -t and is a dedicated follo!er of "a'a amde$. amde$. #e has recently purchased a ne! pair of /ike Shoes and atanjali)s atanjali)s pricot Scru'. Product etails !1 o" #$ %rand0 /ike Product &ame0 /ike 1ual usion 32 "lack unning Shoes Price0 upees 4555
'eans(end chains: it is !ell6esta'lished fact that creating $alue for customer is $ery important source of competiti$e ad$antage.
Ps3chosocial Conse2uences feel clearer ; smoother skin >ts $ery easy to use product. feels economical as it costs less compared to other SKUs
alues look !ell6groomed no need to 'uy a face !ash as it ser$es the purpose Sa$es the trou'le of 'uilding an in$entory of scru's
Pro-lems "aced during the e4ercise: •
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&he num'er of :uestions !hich laddering generates !ere large, and the process of repeatedly asking someone ?!hy@ !as childish and 'oring. My respondent felt irritated after a point of time. > also realiAed that ans!ering the later :uestions !as diBcult. nd attempting to force an ans!er can 'e counterproducti$e. ecording responses !as complicated, so > had to take much care in preparing for and conducting the :uestioning.
Learning "rom this e4ercise0 %addering is a !ell6esta'lished techni:ue from psychology and is typically used to encourage self6analysis of 'eha$ior and moti$ations. pplying this process to market research !ill helps us to gather a more complete list of ?conse:uences@ and clim' to!ards the hard6to6reach ?$alues@. &hese ?$alues@ are the most useful tools for predicting 'eha$ior and identifying potential ne! opportunities. The two products chosen were from diametrically opposite sides in terms of price and the effort needed in terms of research to purchase, /ike Shoes are more modern, !estern kind of product !hile Patanjali Apricot Scrub is more &raditional yur$edic >ndian product. 9hile inter$ie!ing > noticed that 'uying 'eha$ior for /ike Shoes of respondent !as inCuenced 'y factors like social status, feelings, comfort, con-dence etc. 9hile for Scru' it !as recommendations and 'elief Din yur$eda. &he major takea!ay from this entire eFercise for me !as that consumers might let their indi$idual $alues dominate their purchase. >n my case, respondent !as a'le to almost relate to terminal $alue easily in the case of /ike Shoes as one of the prime factors in$ol$ed in the purchase itself !as the terminal $alue. "ut the same !as not true for the Scru'. > ha$e to gi$e a push to reach for the terminal $alue of the
Laddering Assignment: Rohan Srivastava, 1501096 product. > feel the pro'lems mainly arose !hen the product under consideration !as of cheap $alue. Are you convinced with the responses you got? Are they making sense? Do you think this is a worthwhile exercise? >f > !as uneFposed to the laddering techni:ue and my re:uirement !as to identify the terminal $alue, > am certain > !ould ha$e gone for other market research techni:ues like in6depth inter$ie!s. > also don)t think > could ha$e connected the purchase !ith the $alue the consumer possesses. Laddering techni2ue gives a oom(in ersective to an intervie hich can onl3 -e achieved -3 reeatedl3 as7ing 8h3@ &hus > -rmly 'elie$e this entire eFercise opened a ne! dimension to understand ho! to link the product !ith the consumer. nce the terminal $alue !as reached, the entire eFercise can 'e e=ecti$ely used for designing the communication strategy 'ased on the target market the company is seeking to penetrate into. > noticed it !as easier for the respondent to ans!er :uestions a'out /ike Shoes than for atanjali pricot Scru'. #e !as more con-dent a'out his decision for the Shoes. > think here the price factor comes in. &he things !hich are cheap, consumer can 'uy it on the go. #e !as more con-dant a'out his decision for Shoes 'ecause it !as a conscious decision.
Some of the responses do not make sense at a high level and seem disconnected from the objective we had at hand. %ike in atanjali pricot Scru' inter$ie! respondent told that he 'elie$es
that yur$edic Scru' is less harmful than the chemical ones, then he mentioned that he is the -rst time user of Scru's, ho! can he 'e judgmental a'out other products !ithout e$en kno!ing a'out themH E$ery other thing made sense to me eFcept the a'o$e argument !hich is completely 'ased on respondent personal 'ias to!ards yur$eda.
