Propuesta y comprobación de una extensión del modelo de valores personales de Schwartz (1992) y evaluación de la utilidad predictiva en el consumo

Resum

This research intended to provide empirical evidence on the fundamental motivations of consumer behaviour on the basis of two premises: (i) personal values play an essential role in the motivation of any human behaviour and, thus, on consumers’ conduct; and (ii) every economic behaviour is associated with a particular predictive utility (Kahneman, 2012). These premises suggest that personal values not only express the underlying motives of consumers’ decisions but also indicate the utility they expect from such decisions (predictive utility). Considering the nature of the values involved, predictive utility may be of material, experiential or symbolic nature. In this line, one of the present research’s main objectives was to evidence how specific personal values express each of these three types of expected utility. For such purpose, we proposed an extension of Schwartz’s basic model on personal values (Schwartz, 1992). We revised the notion of personal values in the literature on general human motivation, as well as its application to consumer behaviour. Subsequently, we approached the concept of predictive utility in the context of traditional theories where utility is conceived as the main goal of any economic behaviour. The connection between personal values and predictive utility is explained through three dimensions in consume: material, stimulative and symbolic, where specific values are associated to each of these three dimensions. Two consumer behaviours were selected to test the proposed model: the use of the social network Facebook and the choice of a smartphone. The empirical study aimed (i) to confirm that the factor structure of material, experiential and symbolic utility was consistent with the theoretical model, (ii) to validate the measurement instruments, (iii) to verify the predominant symbolic nature of motives to use Facebook, and (iv) to compare smartphone brands in terms of values and predictive utility. For these purposes, an extended version of the Schwartz Value Survey was administered to 511 participants in order to evaluate their personal values in both mentioned consumer behaviours. Results were subject to factorial and descriptive statistical analysis in order to confirm the proposed theoretical model as well as to provide specific information on such behaviours in terms of personal values and predictive utility of material, experiential and symbolic nature. The results generally supported the proposed model as well as the method, suggesting a susceptible application to consumer and market research. Likewise, specific demographic data was obtained regarding the participants’ segmentation when using Facebook and choosing a smartphone. These results may be interesting for players in the social networks’ and mobile devices’ markets as they suggest that marketing strategies aimed to activate personal values may produce significant effects on consumers’ decisions. Additionally, the proposed model may contribute to explain psychosocial aspects related to social networks and attitudes towards information and communication technologies.