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Marketing |
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Personal construct
psychology has long had links with the
research side of marketing in the field of market research or consumer
behaviour. The repertory
grid is an ideal tool for the investigation known in that domain as
"product-attribute" mapping, since the elements of the grid can be
products
and the constructs attributes. Stewart and Stewart (1981, pp.73-82)
provide
some examples of this. Another aspect, which has received research
interest
(ie research into market research) is that of cognitive
complexity. Durand and Lambert (1985) refer to "approximately" 40
such
studies since the early 1970’s (for example Durand, 1979). Another much
more influential link has been that of laddering.
Laddering in
a
consumer research context proceeds by eliciting constructs about
products,
then laddering on these constructs to higher order personal constructs,
providing information to advertisers that links desired personal
attributes
with product attributes. In an article in the Journal of
Advertising
Research, Reynolds and Gutman (1988) presented what must be the
most
detailed account of the laddering interview. They also extended the use
of the technique to quantitative analysis of grouped data through what
they
referred to as "the implication matrix". The technique is still widely
used
(Reynolds, Detloff,and Westberg, 2001). Kelly is often (but not always)
cited. Hinkle never is. |
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References
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- Durand,
R.M. (1979) Cognitive complexity, attitudinal affect, and dispersion in
affect ratings for products. Journal of Social Psychology, 107, 209-212.
- Durand,
R.M., and Lambert, Z.V. (1985) Cognitive structure: A buyer
behaviour perspective. Paper presented at the Sixth International
Congress on Personal Construct Psychology, August, 1985,
Churchill College, Cambridge.
- Reynolds,
T.J., and Gutman, J. (1988) Laddering theory, method,
analysis, and interpretation. Journal of Advertising Research, 28, 11-31.
- Reynolds,
T.J., Dethloff, C., and Westberg, S.J. (2001) Advances in
laddering. In T.J. Reynolds and J. C. Olson (Eds.) Understanding
consumer decision making: The means-end approach to marketing and
advertising strategy. (pp. 91-118) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
- Stewart,
V., and Stewart, A. (1981) Business applications of the
repertory grid. London: McGraw-Hill
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Richard C. Bell
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