An Investigation of Values: Laddering with Cosmetic Products Consumers

Identifying the customer's values, needs, and goals is one of the key issues affecting successful marketing. Cosmetics products are of utmost importance among business sectors that have attracted the attention of companies. The purpose of this study is to identify the behavior of consumers buying hair color in Kermanshah city using a laddering technique. This research is applied in terms of goals and is qualitative and exploratory as regards with the methodology. The data were collected using interviews. The statistical population consisted of 30 customers of Kermanshah cosmetic labors who have been selected based on targeted method and interviewed afterwards. The laddering technique chosen for this research was straightforward technique. This means that, in reviewing customer purchasing behavior, at first, the essential characteristics of the product (hair color) for the customer were obtained, then the product benefits associated with those characteristics were extracted, and ultimately the instrumental and ultimate values regarding the purchasing of the products were analyzed. In order to identify the ultimate values of consumers, the Rokich endpoint and instrumental value checklist has been used. The findings of this study showed that “beauty”, “health”, “financial security”, “self-esteem” and “happiness” are the most important values among consumers of color products, respectively. In addition, “cost-effectiveness”, “unrepeated use of hair colors”, “less damage to skin and hair”, and “high shelf-life, softness and shining characteristics” were among the most important benefits to the consumers.