Journal
FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE
Volume 15, Issue 6, Pages 569-583Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2003.11.007
Keywords
means-end-chains; interviews; computerised laddering; pencil-and-paper laddering; hard laddering; soft laddering
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Laddering techniques (means-end-chains) have become popular as a means of understanding consumers' motivations for (food) product choice. Comparisons 617 the output of interview (soft) laddering (SL, n = 49) were made with two forms of questionnaire-based (hard) laddering, pencil-and-paper (PL, n = 46) and computerised presentations (CL, n = 45). Within the context of mothers choosing breakfast for their children, the aim was to assess whether the form of administration would have a differential effect upon results. The laddering methods produced different results. Hard laddering produced more ladders (CL > PL > SL; p < 0.01) when values were excluded whereas SL produced more linkages between levels of abstraction (SL > CL > PL; p < 0.01), though constructs were similar across all groups. Differences were attributable to administration, which in turn was interpreted to be attributable to differences in participants' cognitive processing, specifically: memory recall (SL) versus recognition (PL and CL). The SL primary result, the hierarchical value map, was difficult to interpret and, contrary to previous literature, the results question the use of SL when a succinct understanding, of complex food choices is the aim of the study. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available