Value Structures and Consumer Behavior

4/25/2021 Value Structures and Consumer Behavior | ACR
Value Structures and Consumer Behavior
ABSTRACT - This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of the structure of
human values. In addition to positing the relationship between values and behavior, the
paper demonstrates a unique approach for exploring the tradeo s consumers make in
striving to achieve their values in a complex world.
C I TAT I O N :
Jonathan Gutman and Donald E. Vinson (1979) ,"Value Structures and Consumer
Behavior", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 06, eds. William L. Wilkie, Ann
Abor, MI : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 335-339.
Advances in Consumer Research Volume 6, 1979 Pages 335-339
VALUE STRUCTURES AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Jonathan Gutman, University of Southern California
Donald E. Vinson, University of Southern California
ABSTRACT -
This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of the structure of human values.
In addition to positing the relationship between values and behavior, the paper
demonstrates a unique approach for exploring the tradeo s consumers make in striving to
achieve their values in a complex world.
INTRODUCTION
It is di cult to imagine a single example of consumer behavior without reference to personal
values. Even though the topic has been largely ignored by consumer researchers, the most
cursory review of the social science literature demonstrates the important role of values in
the study of both individual and collective behavior. In a recent interdisciplinary analysis of
personal values, Clawson and Vinson (1977) suggested that:
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The study of consumer values shows many signs of becoming a challenging area for
research . . . values may prove to be one of the most powerful explanations of, and
in uences on, consumer behavior. They can perhaps equal or surpass the contributions of
other major constructs including attitudes, product attributes, degree of deliberation,
product classi cations and life-styles.
While we have barely begun to scratch the surface of the subject that To er (1969) terms "so
quick-silvery and complex," most serious students of human behavior appear to agree--
values count!
Personal Values
In the area of marketing and consumer behavior, value research has been heavily in uenced
by the theoretical and operational contributions of Milton Rokeach. "To say that a person
'has a value' is to say that he has an enduring belief that a speci c mode of conduct or end-
state of existence is personally and socially preferable to alternative modes of conduct or
end-states of existence" (Rokeach, 1968). An individual's values represent a relatively small
number of very centrally held evaluative beliefs. They are the ". . .cognitive representations
and transformations of needs" and provide the criteria or standards by which judgments are
made (Rokeach, 1973). Our values then, are responsible for the selection and maintenance
of the ends or goals toward which we strive and, at the same time, regulate the manner in
which this striving takes place.
Employing the Rokeach paradigm, consumer researchers have investigated di erential
product preferences (Vinson, Scott and Lamont, 1976), cross-cultured consumption patterns
(Kanter, 1977; Munson, 1977), market segmentation potential (Vinson and Munson, 1975),
consumer dissatisfaction (Scott and Lamont, 1973; Vinson, 1976), life style (Carman, 1977),
and cognitive structure (Vinson and Nakanishi, 1977). In almost all of these cases, the data
collection vehicle represented the Value Survey containing Rokeach's original 36 terminal
and instrumental values.
Value System Structure
Rokeach, as well as a large number of other value analysts, contend that values exist in a
hierarchical, interconnected structure. That is, while all values are important and linked
together, some values are more important than others. This notion is intuitively appealing for
the average 22-year-old college student (the value "An Exciting Life" is usually rated more
important that the value "Salvation"). Vinson, Scott, and Lamont (]976) suggest that the
value structure exists as a central-peripheral dimension ranging from the most centrally held
to the least centrally held. However, when college students are asked to rank-order the
Value Survey, many complain that certain values "clump together" and these value "clumps"
take on di erential importance. "It is the rare and limiting case," Williams suggests (1968),
that ". . .a person's behavior is guided over a considerable period of time by one and only
one valueLearn
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changing clusters of values."
Apparently then, the conception of values being held independently of other values, rank-
ordered from most centrally held to least centrally held is an inadequate representation of
the consumer's value system. A more adequate system would be one in which some values
are consonant with one another to the e ect that the same behaviors are instrumental to
achieving them. Some values by the same virtue, are contrary to one another in that they are
mutually exclusive. Striving for one value or set of values means moving away from other
values or sets of values. And, some values are indeed independent.
A major objective of this paper is to explore this proposition.
Values and Behavior
In addition to not fully understanding the structure of the value system, consumer
researchers have been rather obtuse in their explanation as to exactly how values are related
to overt behavior. Not unlike other authors writing in the area of consumer behavior, Markin
(1974) addresses this issue by stating, "A complete treatment, one that would trace the role
of consumers' core values and their impact on such behavior as buying and consumption, is
beyond the scope of our introductory treatment here." Little, if any, additional insight is
provided by more recent researchers interested in the topic of personal values (Clawson and
Vinson, 1977).
As end-states which give expression to human needs, we believe that values provide the
goals toward which behavior is motivated. The immediate functions of values and value
systems are to guide human action in daily situations. If we behave in all the ways prescribed
by our values, we will he rewarded with all the end-states speci ed by these values
(Rokeach, 1973, p. 14). In this sense, behavior is instrumental to the achievement of a
particular value state. Behavior instrumentality implies that a speci c behavior will either
enhance or block the attainment of some value or constellation of values. Consumers are
motivated to engage in behaviors which will enhance the achievement of certain values;
similarly, they are motivated to avoid those behaviors which are perceived to block the
attainment of certain value states.
The research reported in this paper demonstrates the instrumentality of a variety of di erent
behavior for a given set of personal values.
Measuring Values
As originally developed by Rokeach, the Value Survey requires subjects to rank-order the 36
terminal and instrumental values printed on gummed labels. For the purposes of consumer
research, there are a number of problems associated with this technique. First, the ranking
procedure forces the respondent to indicate di erences where none may actually exist;
equally attractive values are forced into separate rankings. In addition, wide gaps in
preference are treated as no di erent from very small gaps. Second, many subjects verbalize
Miller's admonition (1956) that most people cannot adequately evaluate more than a few
items (7 plus or more

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time. And of
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the rankings in
favor of deprived values and against satiated values. "For instance, the lowest income
respondents rate 'A Comfortable Life' and 'Clean' relatively high, while wealthy
respondents rate them quite low" (Clawson and Vinson, 1977).
To avoid these problems, the vast majority of the empirical research previously cited
employed the direct rating of each value. While this o ers a number of methodological
advantages, it doesn't directly address the issue of clusters of values that are consonant with
one another or those which are mutually exclusive.
An important contribution of this paper is to introduce a new technique for exploring the
relationships among human values. The results of this approach would enable researchers to
explore the tradeo s consumers must make in striving to achieve their values in a complex
world. Speci cally, the purpose of this research is to demonstrate these three types of
relations (consonant, contrary, and independent) among values and to use these
relationships to generate a values map in which the instrumentality of various behavior can
be explored.
METHODOLOGY
To satisfy the objective of exploring the structure of personal values, data were collected by
a unique form of paired-comparisons to generate a perceptual map. The stimuli to be
mapped were values selected from Rokeach's terminal values (see Table 1). Because of the
large number of items to be evaluated, a subset of 14 of the 18 terminal values was selected
to reduce respondent fatigue. As can be seen from inspection of the values in Table 1, many
of them are rather abstract with respect to their reference to end-states of existence. Also,
these values can be satis ed in di erent ways by di erent people. At this stage of the
research on values, it was decided to use the values as they were rather than to try to make
them more speci c. Any attempt at concretizing values would mainly serve to increase the
idiosyncratic nature of the responses.
The scale used to elicit distances between the values was as follows:
Both value states can be achieved through the same behavior 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The two
value states are opposites--striving for onemeans moving away from the other
The context of the scale is behavioral--in any situation your behavior is leading you
somewhere. Can you approach any two of these value states simultaneously or are they in
opposition to one another?
One property of this scale is di erent than the o en used "similar-di erent" scales. If two
stimuli are unrelated or not comparable, the similar-di erent scale results in a "di erent"
judgment. If two values are unrelated and striving for one is unrelated to the other, the
respondent is most likely to mark the midpoint of the "can achieve both--they are opposite"
scale.
TABLE 1
VALUES EMPLOYED IN THE ANALYSIS
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Property Vectors Dismiss
As an aid to understanding the resulting space, ten behaviors were rated for their
instrumentality in achieving the value states (see Table 4). Each of the behaviors was rated
on a seven point scale as to whether it would "totally block the attainment" to "totally
enhance the attainment" of each of the values. The behaviors chosen by the experimenters
were thought to be relevant to the life style of the respondents, and related to the set of
values selected.
Type of Analysis
The direct dissimilarity measures obtained from the subjects were analyzed according to the
INDSCAL model (Carroll and Chang, 1970) and solutions were computed in three, two and
one dimension. The INDSCAL model was used to retain some of the individual di erences,
hopefully adding to the depth of the solution.
Subjects
Subjects were students at the University of Southern California School of Business. Twenty-
nine undergraduate students each rated the 91 value state pairs (14 X 13/2) and rated the
instrumentality of the ten behaviors for each of the values.
RESULTS
A minimum of three dimensions was required to describe the obtained space. The
percentage of variance accounted for by the INDSCAL model was 36 percent. The average
correlation coe cient across subjects was .59. While this gure is not as high as desired, it
was felt that the interpretability of the obtained space provided a number of interesting
insights and may provide assistance to others investigating the relationship between
personal values and behavior.
Value State Map
The coordinates for the 14 value states in three dimensions are shown in Table 2. These 14
value states are mapped in Figure 1.
FIGURE 1
THREE DIMENSIONAL VALUES SPACE
TABLE 2
VALUE COORDINATES FROM INDSCAL ANALYSIS IN THREE DIMENSIONS
Interpretation of Dimensions
Certain features of the value state map are obvious at rst glance. Beauty, Peace, and
Equality are far removed from any of the other value states. Social Recognition bounds the
space opposite these three values. Wisdom is not particularly near any of the other values.
From a clustering perspective, it is unlikely that these values would be capable of
achievement at the same time other values are being achieved.
Other value states are tightly clustered. True Friendship and Mature Love are close to one
another and both are close to Happiness. Pleasure and A Comfortable Life are located near
one another. Of particular interest is the fact that Happiness is located nearest to the
centroid of the space. From a personal perspective, this may be the most generalizable of
the values. ("Whatever makes you happy...")
From a dimensional perspective, each of the three dimensions seem to be capable of an
interpretation that increases our understanding of how people structure their values.
Dimension 1
The two poles of dimension 1 represent Personal Achievement versus Social Harmony (see
Table 3). What seems to be re ected here is the fact that Social Recognition, Self-Respect,
Accomplishment, and Wisdom are somewhat antithetical to Peace, Equality and a World of
Beauty. This may be another way of saying that the pursuit of personal goals is contradictory
with society's broader concerns. This may re ect the parochial, short time horizon of college
students. It is also consistent with Rokeach's contention that terminal values are personal
and social; that is, these values tend to be self-centered or society-centered, intrapersonal or
interpersonal in focus (Rokeach, 1973, p. 8).
Dimension 2
Dimension 2 can be interpreted in terms of "Desires" versus "Oughts." In this context,
Pleasure, Mature Love, Comfortable Life, and Security are opposed to Equality, Peace, and
Wisdom. High ratings on the scale, which served as a basis for the distance measures input
to the scaling algorithm, means these two sets of values cannot be achieved via the same
behaviors.
Dimension 3
Dimension 3 represents one of the major aspects of college life (and to some respect, life in
general)--social rewards and what it takes to get them as opposed to striving for some form
of personal balance. Thus, we have Social Recognition opposed to Self-Respect, Inner
Harmony, Mature Love, True Friendship, and Equality.
TABLE 3
INTERPRETATION OF DIMENSIONS
Behavior Vectors as an Aid to Interpretation
"The behaviors have been placed along the perimeter of the dimension 1-2 plane in Figure 1
such that a line between the point and the origin of the 3-space would de ne the plane.
Table 4 shows the direction cosines for the behaviors which de ne their angular location in
the space (Green and Rao, 1972, pp. 66-69). The calculations of the behaviors with the
value states as mapped in the 3-space are very strong. With the exception of "reading a
good book" (r = .507) and "going to Europe" (r = .671) all the correlations are greater than
.76. Because rendering these angles and stimuli locations in three dimensions is somewhat
precarious, Table 5 has been provided in which the instrumentality ratings for each behavior
across the 14 values (along with the rank orders) are shown. Detailed inspection of Table 5
indicates, for example, that getting good grades and having a summer job are both
Learn
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in achieving our Terms and
Self-Respect of Service
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Accomplishment. Dismiss
Neither has much to
do with A World of Peace or Equality. The point must be made that there is no prima facie
reason why this should be so. Plenty of students can nd a summer job helping
underprivileged children or other activities that would help in achieving both of these sets of
values. Our group of students is rather homogeneous (as will be discussed in connection
with individual respondent saliences).
TABLE 4
MAX "r" PROPERTY FITTING OF AVERAGE BEHAVIOR RATINS IN THE THREE
DIMENSIONAL INDSCAL STIMULUS SPACE
TABLE 5
AVERAGE INSTRUMENTALITY RATINGS (RANKINGS) OF BEHAVIORS FOR VALUES
Further inspection shows the e cacy of joining a fraternity or sorority. This activity aids in
achieving Social Recognition, Pleasure, True Friendship and Happiness. The interested
reader can pursue any of the other behaviors to see what value states they aid. It is
interesting, though to note that both voting and getting high are instrumental in achieving
Equality.
Analysis of Individual Di erences
Table 6 shows the individual saliences for the three dimensions. Although there are a few
individuals who use one dimension much more than the other two dimensions, most
subjects use three dimensions rather than one or two. There does not appear to be much of
a basis for segmenting the group into subgroups with di erent value structures. This is partly
a function of subject selection. Business students are not noted for being a highly
di erentiated group.
TABLE 6
INDIVIDUAL SUBJECT DIMENSION SALIENCES FROM AGGREGATE LEVEL INDSCAL
ANALYSIS OF DIRECT DISSIMILARITIES IN THREE DIMENSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
This research has demonstrated Rokeach's terminal values are not all independent of one
another. Some values are consonant and can be achieved via the same behaviors. Others
are contrary to one another in that moving toward one means moving away from the other.
There are several implications of this nding.
First, it suggests that a simple ranking of values for importance cannot do justice to their
interconnected nature. At the very least, one would have to permit ties in the ordering.
Rating the values for importance seems to be only a partial solution. While the rating
procedure allows for equal importance rating, it does not force the respondent to deal with
the reality that he or she cannot achieve all things--some value states can only be acquired at
the expense of others.
Secondly, the results force us to think in terms of tradeo s which have to be made in striving
for valued states. If all values cannot be achieved simultaneously, values research has to
address the same issues which confront attitude research. Indeed, we may have come full-
circle to Rosenberg's (1956) instrumentality--value analysis. Some values or clusters of values
are blocked or attained by some products or behaviors.
Finally, the values-mapping procedure has provided a good model for understanding the
alternatives facing our respondents: Personal Achievement vs. Social Harmony; Desires vs.
Oughts; and Social Recognition vs. some form of balance in one's personal life. It seems
likely that these dimensions are not independent of one another either. Further research will
explore this issue by collecting "value-state as a source of satisfaction'' data. We may then
be able to develop a basis for segmentation by nding groups of consumers who are
striving for the same value-locations in such dimensional space. Further research will also
use products as property vectors in such spaces.
While the results of this paper are clearly exploratory in nature, we hope that they will
contribute toward bringing value research more into the mainstream of consumer behavior
research.
REFERENCES
J. M. Carman, "Values and Consumption Patterns: A Closed Loop," Proceedings,
Association for Consumer Research, 1978, 403-407.
J. D. Carroll and J. J. Chang, "Analysis of Individual Di erences in Multidimensional Scaling
via an N-way Generalization of Eckart-Young Decomposition," Psychometrika, 35 (1970),
283-319.
C. J. Clawson and D. E. Vinson, "Human Values: A Historical and Interdisciplinary Analysis,"
Proceedings, Association for Consumer Research, 1978, 396-402.
P. E. Green and V. R. Rao, Applied Multidimensional Scaling: A Comparison of Approaches
and Algorithms, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1972).
W. A. Henry, "Cultural Values Do Correlate With Consumer Behavior," Journal of Marketing
Research, 13 (1976), 121-127.
D. L. Kanter, "The Europeanizing of America: A Study in Changing Values," Proceedings,
Association for Consumer Research, 1978, 408-410.
R. J. Markin, Consumer Behavior: A Cognitive Orientation (New York: Macmillan, 1974).
G. A. Miller, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus-or-Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity
for Processing Information,'' Psychological Review, 63 (1956), 81-97.
J. M. Munson and S. H. McIntyre, "Personal Values: A Cross Cultural Assessment of Self
Values and Values Attributed to a Distant Cultured Stereotype," Proceedings, Association
for Consumer Research, 1978, 160-170.
Milton Rokeach, "A Theory of Organization and Change Within Value-Attitude Systems,"
Journal of Social Sciences, 24 (1968), 13-33.
Milton Rokeach, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1968).
Milton Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values, (New York: Macmillan, 1973).
M. J. Rosenberg, "Cognitive
Learn more Structure
about our Termsand Attitudinal
of Service and E ect," Journal
Privacy Policy of Abnormal
Dismiss and Social
Psychology, 53 (1956), 367-372.
J. E. Scott and L. M. Lamont, "Relating Consumer Values to Consumer Research: A Model
and Method for Investigation,'' in Thomas W. Greer, ed., Increasing Marketing Productivity
(Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1973), 283-288.
A. To er, "Value Impact Forecaster--A Profession of the Future," in K. Baier and N. Rescher,
eds., Values and the Future, (New York: The Free Press, 1969), p. 4.
D. E. Vinson, "Personal Values as a Dimension of Consumer Discontent," in B. Greenberg
and D. Bellinger, eds., Contemporary Marketing Thought, (Chicago: American Marketing
Association, 1977), p. 505.
D. E. Vinson and J. M. Munson, "Personal Values: An Approach to Market Segmentation," in
K. L. Bernhardt, Marketing: 1776-1976 and Beyond, (Chicago: American Marketing
Association, 1976), 313-317.
D. E. Vinson and M. Nakanishi, "The Structural Composition of the Consumer's Value-
Attitude System," Working Paper, College of Business, University of Southern California.
D. E. Vinson, J. E. Scott, and C. M. Lamont, "The Role of Personal Values in Marketing and
Consumer Behavior," Journal of Marketing, (1977), 44-50.
R. M. Williams, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, (New York: Macmillan,
1968), p. 287.
----------------------------------------
AUTHORS
Jonathan Gutman, University of Southern California
Donald E. Vinson, University of Southern California
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4/25/2021 Value Structures and Consumer Behavior | ACR

striving to achieve their values in a complex world.

Advances in Consumer Research Volume 6, 1979 Pages 335-339

VALUE STRUCTURES AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Jonathan Gutman, University of Southern California

Donald E. Vinson, University of Southern California

achieve their values in a complex world.

It is di cult to imagine a single example of consumer behavior without reference to personal

personal values, Clawson and Vinson (1977) suggested that:

other major constructs including attitudes, product attributes, degree of deliberation,

product classi cations and life-styles.

state of existence is personally and socially preferable to alternative modes of conduct or

end-states of existence" (Rokeach, 1968). An individual's values represent a relatively small

which this striving takes place.

Employing the Rokeach paradigm, consumer researchers have investigated di erential

and instrumental values.

Value System Structure

changing clusters of values."

values or sets of values. And, some values are indeed independent.

A major objective of this paper is to explore this proposition.

Values and Behavior

(Rokeach, 1973, p. 14). In this sense, behavior is instrumental to the achievement of a

attainment of certain value states.

behavior for a given set of personal values.

items (7 plus or more

respondents rate them quite low" (Clawson and Vinson, 1977).

one another or those which are mutually exclusive.

a unique form of paired-comparisons to generate a perceptual map. The stimuli to be

idiosyncratic nature of the responses.

opposition to one another?

VALUES EMPLOYED IN THE ANALYSIS

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hopefully adding to the depth of the solution.

instrumentality of the ten behaviors for each of the values.

personal values and behavior.

Value State Map

value states are mapped in Figure 1.

THREE DIMENSIONAL VALUES SPACE

VALUE COORDINATES FROM INDSCAL ANALYSIS IN THREE DIMENSIONS

From a clustering perspective, it is unlikely that these values would be capable of

achievement at the same time other values are being achieved.

the values. ("Whatever makes you happy...")

From a dimensional perspective, each of the three dimensions seem to be capable of an

interpersonal in focus (Rokeach, 1973, p. 8).

Dimension 2 can be interpreted in terms of "Desires" versus "Oughts." In this context,

of personal balance. Thus, we have Social Recognition opposed to Self-Respect, Inner

Harmony, Mature Love, True Friendship, and Equality.

Behavior Vectors as an Aid to Interpretation

with individual respondent saliences).

MAX "r" PROPERTY FITTING OF AVERAGE BEHAVIOR RATINS IN THE THREE

DIMENSIONAL INDSCAL STIMULUS SPACE

AVERAGE INSTRUMENTALITY RATINGS (RANKINGS) OF BEHAVIORS FOR VALUES

Analysis of Individual Di erences

INDIVIDUAL SUBJECT DIMENSION SALIENCES FROM AGGREGATE LEVEL INDSCAL

ANALYSIS OF DIRECT DISSIMILARITIES IN THREE DIMENSIONS

There are several implications of this nding.

the expense of others.

circle to Rosenberg's (1956) instrumentality--value analysis. Some values or clusters of values

are blocked or attained by some products or behaviors.

use products as property vectors in such spaces.

J. M. Carman, "Values and Consumption Patterns: A Closed Loop," Proceedings,

Association for Consumer Research, 1978, 403-407.