A Brief Primer on Laddering

Laddering is a research technique used primarily in consumer marketing. The Seidewitz Group has developed a proprietary form of this technique, called B2B LadderingSM, which we use to help clients improve businessto-business branding and marketing strategies. This primer provides background on the research techniques origins and uses in consumer and business-to-business marketing. Laddering is the principal research technique used to identify means-end chains, or the linkages between product attributes, benefits and beliefs. The technique uses an initial stimulus to identify product attributes, followed by a series of why questions to identify benefits and beliefs associated with each attribute. Practitioners have adapted the laddering technique for a number of uses. Predominant among them is the use of laddering to uncover needs rather than attributes and benefits. The underlying belief is that consumers have needs that are not tied to specific product attributes. These needs progress from practical (or functional) needs to increasingly emotional needs. Laddering is often used to understand these functional and emotional needs and how they influence the purchase decision. Freeing laddering from a dependence on product attributes helps marketers look beyond current product design to potential ways to fulfill unmet consumer needs. tell me what characteristics you consider when deciding which brand of running shoes to buy), free-sort task (Please sort these running shoes into groups that are alike in some ways that are important to you), or triad task (Here are three brands of running shoes. In what ways are two of these different from the third?) 2 . The Seidewitz Group and other research firms have developed alternative methods to elicit functional needs, such as having consumers construct collages. Once product attributes or functional needs are elicited through the initial stimulus, the moderator uses a series of why questions (usually, Why is that important to you?) to reveal how attributes are related to benefits and beliefs or how functional needs are related to higher-level functional needs and emotional needs. Here is an example of part of a laddering interview 3 : Researcher: You said that a shoes lacing pattern is important to you in deciding what brand to buy. Why is that?

The Origins Laddering

of

The market research technique known as laddering has its basis in the Means-End Theory of consumer decision-making 1 . The Means-End Theory holds that there are different levels of product knowledge that influence a consumers decision. These levels start with product attributes, which result in consequences (or benefits), which in turn influence consumer values and beliefs. A key tenant of the theory is that consumers define the value of a product not by its attributes, but rather by the benefits that those attributes deliver. Thus, benefits are purported to be more influential over consumer behavior than product attributes.

How it Works
Laddering is typically conducted in a one-on-one interview between a moderator and a participant. The interview begins with an initial stimulus to solicit product attributes or functional needs of the participant. In traditional laddering, this usually takes the form of direct elicitation (Please

Gutman, Jonathan. A MeansEnd Chain Model Based on Consumer Categorization Processes. Journal of Marketing, Spring, 1982, pp. 60-72.
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These examples from J. Paul Peter and Jerry C. Olson, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy, 2nd Ed. (Homestead, IL: Irwin, 1990), p. 82. 3 This example also from Peter and Olson, p. 83.
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2004 & 2007 The Seidewitz Group

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Consumer: A staggered lacing pattern makes the shoe fit more snuggly on my foot. Researcher: Why is it important that the shoe fit more snugly on your foot? Consumer: Because it gives me better support. Researcher: Why is better support important to you? Consumer: So I can run without worrying about injuring my feet. Researcher: Why is it important to you to not worry while running? Consumer: So I can relax and enjoy the run. Researcher: Why is it important to you to relax and enjoy the run? Consumer: Because it gets rid of the tension I have built up from work. Researcher: Why is it important for you to get rid of tension from work? Consumer: So when I go back in the afternoon, I can perform better. Researcher: Why is it important for you to perform better? Consumer: I feel better about myself. Researcher: Why is it important that you feel better about yourself? Consumer: It just is! end!] [The

Group uses a modified version of the technique to identify the business and personal needs of business decision-makers. We call our approach B2B LadderingSM.

identify the participants comprehensive set of base-level business needs.

The Seidewitz Group also has proprietary tools for collating and analyzing Figure 1: NeedsMap example the data we Target Audience: CIOs, CTOs and high-level IT managers collect in B2B Context: Selection of enterprise resource system consultant Laddering interviews. Using these tools, we construct a of NeedsMapSM the business and personal factors that influence a particular type of business decision-maker. An example is provided in Figure The foundation of B2B 1. Laddering is the belief that businesspeople, just like Using the information in this consumers, are influenced by NeedsMap, along with other more than rational tools at our disposal 4 , we work considerations; they also take with our clients to develop into account personal business-to-business branding motivations, preconceived and marketing strategies that notions, habit, and meet target audience needs organizational considerations better and more clearly than when making a business competitors. decision. B2B Laddering provides the ideal tool to understand not just business Additional needs, but also the personal Information needs (e.g. I want to get promoted or I dont want any For more information about more headaches) and B2B Laddering or our organizational considerations consulting services, please visit that exert significant a influence www.seidewitzgroup.com or on a business decision. contact Scott Seidewitz at 212Personal Needs

I Can Enjoy Work and Home More Im in a better mood

I Become a Valuable External Asset / Advance Within the Company

Personal Needs

I Have Less Frustration & Fewer Extra Hours in the Office

Delivers Business Results

I Dont Look Bad

Delivers promised process and/or revenue enhancements

Minimizes Problems

Minimizes technical problems / troubleshooting / maintenance Minimizes political in-fighting Minimizes excessive implementation delays / cost over runs Minimizes usage problems

Organization confident in consultant & technology

Management is confident in consultant and technology Employees have confidence in consultant and technology

The Technology Works for the Organization

The Technology Works

Implementation is Well- Managed

Meets budget and timeline Consultant establishes objectives and milestones Consultant is accessible and communicates regularly Disruption to business is minimized during transition

Business Needs

Technology is reliable, not too many glitches Consultant adds value by contributing to project parameters / identifying technical solutions I wouldnt have Technology can be upgraded and expanded

Technology Works for Our Business

Consultant helps define clear, realistic expectations Senior Management buys-in to key decisions Employees embrace new technology Employees trained on new technology Technology is user-friendly for Carol in accounting Consultant provides support at end-user level

Technology meets our specific business needs and strategies (especially e-business) Consultant adds value by understanding our business Technology meets needs of different parts of the organization Technology meets needs of Carol in Accounting

Business Needs

Using Laddering in B2B Branding

Just as consumer marketers use laddering to identify the functional and emotional needs of consumers, The Seidewitz
2004 & 2007 The Seidewitz Group

When conducting B2B Laddering interviews, The Seidewitz Group follows a similar interview structure as the one used in consumer marketing. The primary differences are that our interviews are usually conducted by phone and we use unique initial stimuli to

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4 Such as B2B DecisionChartingSM and B2B EquityChartingSM; see The Seidewitz Group Web site for more information.