What technique is used in laddering to uncover consumer preferences?

Laddering is a qualitative research technique primarily used to understand the underlying motivations and values that drive consumer preferences. The process involves asking a series of probing "why" questions to delve deeper into the reasons behind a consumer's choices. This technique helps to uncover the relationship between specific attributes of a product and the personal values or benefits that consumers associate with those attributes.

By continually probing, researchers can reach deeper insights into what truly matters to consumers, moving beyond surface-level preferences to understand the emotional and psychological factors influencing their decisions. This approach contrasts sharply with methods like customer satisfaction polling, which tends to focus on surface-level feedback without exploring the underlying motivations, or conducting focus groups, which may generate discussion but still might not dig as deeply into individual motivations. Analyzing purchase histories provides valuable data on buying trends but lacks the qualitative depth that laddering achieves through direct consumer engagement and deeper questioning.