values

Values can be defined as a belief  about some desirable end-state that transcends specific situations and guides selection of behaviour. Values are general and different from attitude in that they do not apply to specific situations only. A person's set of values plays a very important role in their consumption activities, since many products and services are purchased because it will help us to attain a value-related goal.  Two people can believe in the same behaviours (vegetarianism)  but their underlying belief systems may be quite different (animal activism VS health concerns).  The extent to which people may share a belief system is determined by individual social and cultural forces.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUxiiKtdELk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH4rHTJztLU&feature=related

Real life examples
Every one wants to be clean, but some societies are more fastidious than others and will not accept products and services that they think cut corners. Italians spend an average of 21 hours a week on household chores other than cooking whereas in America women only spend 4 hours according to Gambles and Procter research. Italian women wash their bathroom and kitchen at least 4 times a week while American just once a week.  

Unilever thought the Italian market would be the perfect place to introduce a new all purpose cleaning product called 'Cif' which flopped.

When Unilever did a research to find out why their product flopped in Italy, they found that the women were not convinced that 'a mere spray would do the job on though kitchen grease; or that one product will adequietly clean different surfaces', (it turns out that 72% of Italians own more than eight different cleaning products). 

Every culture is characterised by its members and endorsed by their value system. These end-states may not be equally endorsed by everyone, and in some cases their values even seem to contradict each other.

Values in consumer behaviour  

Laues have not been as widely applied to direct examinations of consumer behaviour as might be expected.  The reason for these broad-based concepts such as freedon, security, or inner harmony, are more likely to affect general purchasing patterns rather than to differenciate between brands within a product category. For this reason, some researchers have found it convenient to make distinctions among board-based cutural values such as security or happiness; consumption-specific values such as convient shopping or prompt service, and product-specific values such as ease of use or durability, that affect the relative importance that people in different cultures place on possesions.  

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MEP2y6XEn8&feature=related

A recent study of product-specific values looked in depth at Australians who engage in extreme sports like surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding. These researches identified four dominant vales that drove brand choice: freedom, belongingness , excellence and connection. One example is one female surfer studied embraced the value of belongingness. She expressed these values by wearing popular brands of surfing apparel even when these major brands had lost their local roots by going mainstream. In contrast, another surfer in the study valued connection, he expressed this by selecting only locally made brands and going out of his way to support local surfing events.   

A number companies track changes in values through large-scale surveys. For instance one Young and Rubicam study tracked the new segment of single, professional career women without ambitions of having a family. They are among the highest consuming segments and are characterised by central values such as freedom and independent. Many companies use values inventories in order to adapt their strategies. SAS, the airline which for a long time addressed 'hard value' of their key segment, business travellers, realise that segments  had started to express more informal and 'softer' values, and they changed their communication profile strategy. 

Similarly P&G's best selling wet mop failed spectacularly. This was because both companies underestimated the market's desire for products that are tough cleaners, not time savers.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvu8J4UPjNg&feature=related