Means end chain
Consumers buy a product for a reason. Sometimes the reason is practicality and sometimes it relates to vanity. The means-end chain is a tool that marketers use to decide why people are buying what they are buying. In my opinion, it is a tool that helps them decide what attributes of a specific product draws in the consumer and how the product makes them feel, both good and bad, both functional and emotional and the overall value the consumer feels. From start to finish, this is the “chain” that marketers are using to evaluate their research. An example of a Means-End chain can be found in the horse world, more specifically, Tobiano paint horses. There are many connoisseurs of Paint horses. I like the paints that have an even balance of dark coloring and white coloring, Tobianos. I like tobianos better because they don’t have as many diseases and fatalities when breeding them together. Considering health, they are a more stable color and they can be homozygous for color, resulting in guaranteed patterns. I feel solid horses are boring because they don’t have that “chrome” and more people are looking at my horses because of their colors. Also, with reduced risk for foal fatalities, the tobiano color is more favorable, therefore, I look more favorable and intelligent in my decision to breed tobianos for color. For these reasons, owning tobianos makes me feel good about my life and decisions. In this example, the attributes are of the Tobiano Paint horses. The functional consequence is 0 foal mortalities, decreasing risks, and homozygous colors guaranteeing color patterns. The psycho-social consequence is the perception of higher public opinion of the tobiano patterned breed, which makes me feel good about myself and my decisions, the value of the chain.