Building Ladders on the Internet

Traditionally, laddering research is done qualitatively. Ladders are constructed via an interviewer’s continuously asking probing questions to consumers as to why they buy certain products. The disadvantages of qualitative laddering are small sample sizes and high costs. So we decided to see if there was an alternative.

To aid a major consumer packaged goods company in planning brand differentiation strategies, we fielded a study to develop ladders for six brands within a specific CPG (consumer packaged goods) category-and we conducted it on the Internet! The piping technology of online research allowed us to emulate the probing questions involved in traditional laddering research. Specifically, respondents’ answer a “why” question; and these answers are piped into a subsequent screen, which would ask them “why” (again!) they gave their previous response.

Despite initial skepticism from our client, the study turned out to be a huge success. The ladders that emerged for each brand were rich in consumer language, differentiated, and most importantly, informative to the client’s developing its brand strategies. Following are two ways that laddering can be used –