Monday, April 26, 2010

Values

In this session we looked at values, as to what they are, where they stem from and how they can influence the way in which we perceive things. There are many definitions which describe the key fundamental elements to which values are and what they come from, a definition of values from the dictionary describes its as ' the ideals, customs, institutions etc, of a society towards which the people of the group have an affective regard. These may be positive or negative. (www.dictionary.com) Solomon (2006) describes values as ' a belief about some desirable end state that transcends specific situations and guides selection of behaviour.

Values are general and different to attitudes in that they do not only apply to specific situations. Solomon (2006) Two people may believe in the same behaviours, but their true beliefs may be some what different. The extent to which people share a belief system is a determinant of the individual, social and cultural elements, therefore I believe that a persons core values come from the parents and their cultural and social surroundings for example someone who has been raised with two parents and other siblings may have different values towards family and relationships etc compared to an only child with a single parent. Also I think that your values may change over time but your core values which have been installed within you at a young age will stay the same. I have listed some core values that as children may have been taught to you to show you what is seen as right and wrong within society.

A theorist Khale, came up with their own list of values (1983), in which it shows the most important aspects that people look to have in their lives. This could be through the way in which they want others to see them , or what they believe to be the most valued in their life. The list of values are;
  • Self Respect
  • Excitement
  • Being Self Respected
  • Self Fulfilment
  • Sense of Accomplishment
  • Warm Relationships with Others
  • Security
  • Fun & Enjoyment
  • Sense of Belonging
These values in relation to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, reflect all the motivational aspects of the aspects of the hierarchy levels for example 'warm relationships with others' is strongly embedded with the belongingness level which consists of love, friendship and acceptance by others. In this sense it could be argued that our values stem from our motivational needs.

In class we did an activity which can be used to show how we think others see us and how we want others to see us. We had to put in order of preference a lion, dog, parrot and elephant, the animal that we put in first represents how we want others to perceive us, the second represents how we believe we are actually being seen by others, the third represents how we would like to be perceiced by others in the future and the last one how we truly want to be.

ELEPHANT = Tolerant, Passive, Calm and Wise
DOG = Friendly, faithful, Loyal, Protective, Hard Working and Loving
LION = Dominant, Independent, Proactive, Leading, Critical and Fearless
PARROT = Lively, Fun, Free Spirited, Popular and Passionate




I put the lion first, elephant second, dog third and parrot last; this showed that I wanted people to perceive me as being dominant, independent and proactive, that I believed that I was being perceived as tolerant, passive and calm, that I would like to be perceived as friendly, faithful and hard working in the future and I truly want to be fun and free spirited. The results of this were really true as sometimes I may come across as being independent and critical but those closest to me would often come to be for advice.

We then looked at the laddering technique, this enables people to determine the stages in which they go through when deciding on which product to buy. It is based on terminal values, people each have specific values and they choose alternate actions to achieve the end state. Products then become a way of achieving these terminal values for example, this could be used for someone buying crisps who's end state was to remain healthy they would then go onto buy low in fat crisps.

This technique can really benefit marketers a lot, as it can help them determine their positioning strategy when introducing a new product in to the market and their USP. Without the use of this they are more than likely not going to be able to achieve the success that they were looking for.




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