A Means-End Chain Model Based on Consumer Categorization Processes

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . American Marketing Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Marketing. A Means-End Chain Model Based on Consumer Categorization Processes To practitioner and researcher alike, consumer values play an important role in understanding behavior in the marketplace. This paper presents a model linking perceived product attributes to values. VALUES have been shown to be a powerful force in governing the behavior of individuals in all aspects of their lives (Rokeach 1968, Yankelovich 1981). Their use in marketing planning and strategy could be improved if the behavior of consumers could be related to their values. Several attempts have been made to provide a theoretical and conceptual structure connecting consumers' values to their behavior (Howard 1977, Vinson, Scott and Lamont 1977, Young and Feigin 1975). These attempts can be subsumed under the rubric of a means-end chain. Means are objects (products) or activities in which people engage (running, reading). Ends are valued states of being such as happiness, security, accomplishment. A means-end chain is a model that seeks to explain how a product or service selection facilitates the achievement of desired end states. Such a model consists of elements that represent the major consumer processes that link values to behavior.The means-end chain concept offers marketing managers a way to position products by associating means (the physical aspects of products) with advertising that seeks to tie the consumption of products to the achievement of desired ends (valued states). For example, knowing that consumers want to look well dressed doesn't tell us much unless we know why they want to look that way (sexual attractiveness, accomplishment, neatness, etc., which are value-level considerations) and what attributes in clothing they associate with being well dressed. For the means-end chain to have a central place in marketing planning and consumer research, the nature of the elements comprising means-end chains and the nature of the connections between these elements must be specified, and the model must be operationalized so as to facilitate research. Conceptual Model for Means-End ChainThe purpose of this paper is to present the author's means-end chain model. The model is based on two fundamental assumptions about consumer behavior:(1) that values, defined here as desirable end-states of existence, play a dominant role in guiding choice patterns, and (2) that people cope with the tremendous diversity of products that are potential satisfiers of their values by grouping them into sets or classes so as to reduce the complexity of choice. This suggests that in addition to the product-clas...

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“…O presente artigo tem por objetivo compreender os consumidores de música utilizando a lógica proposta pelo modelo Cadeia de Meios-fim (GUTMAN, 1982). Nesse modelo, a música pode ser entendida como um objeto de consumo que possui determinados atributos que geram benefícios, que, por sua vez, satisfazem os valores dos indivíduos que a consomem.…”

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“…The Means-End Chains Theory pays special attention to understanding consumer behavior and perceived values related to the attributes of goods and services (Gutman, 1982). According to Veludode-Oliveira and Campomar (2006) The origin of the theory is explained by Gutman (1982): means are objects (products) or activities people engage in, while ends are valued end states, such as happiness, security and sense of accomplishment.…”

“…According to Veludode-Oliveira and Campomar (2006) The origin of the theory is explained by Gutman (1982): means are objects (products) or activities people engage in, while ends are valued end states, such as happiness, security and sense of accomplishment. So the core of the theory lies in customers' choice of actions that produce desirable consequences and minimize undesirable ones.…”