Value Cultural Values

The values held by a consumer influence what that person will purchase. And the values are themselves influenced by what others in the consumer’s culture consider important.
     How do you determine the prevailing values of your target audiences? One way is to ask shoppers their reasons for selecting certain items over others. It’s best not to ask the questions in a “Why?” format. Many consumer decisions are made intuitively or based on emotion. When asked, “Why did you make that choice?,” some consumers get defensive, as if their judgment is being ridiculed. 
     You’re likely to get better results and avoid jeopardizing the sale if you use a phrasing that assumes the shopper is making a sound decision: “What is important to you when choosing a product like this?” or “In what ways do you find this one to be better than the other possibilities?”
     When you have the answers, you’ll want to analyze them in order to inform your inventory selection, merchandising, advertising, and marketing. One scheme, used in a study by researchers at Oklahoma State University and Duke University, identifies ten families of values relevant to consumers. Here’s my version, using the ten values names from the original list:

• Power (wealth, social status, control, and dominance) 
• Self-direction (independent thought and action) 
• Achievement (demonstrations of skill) 
• Hedonism (gratification via sensual pleasure) 
• Stimulation (excitement and novelty) 
• Tradition (respect and acceptance of long-standing customs) 
• Conformity (avoidance of impulsive behavior) 
• Security (safety and stability of society) 
• Benevolence (attention to the welfare of one’s own group) 
• Universalism (tolerance, protecting the welfare of everyone, equal rights) 

     Americans generally place higher importance on Power values than on Universalism values in retail purchase and product use decisions. The Oklahoma/Duke researchers emphasize that this should not be taken to mean Americans care little about tolerance, protecting the welfare of everyone, or equal rights. They do care about these. But they care more about wealth, social status, control, and dominance.
     I’ll add to this that there are probably broad variations in values systems within your store’s target audiences. In categorizing your shoppers based on their answers to “What is important to you when choosing a product like this?” or “In what ways do you find this one to be better than the other possibilities?,” recognize that the same decision can reflect more than one family of values. Also, people change their values systems somewhat over their life spans.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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