Kendric, Smith & Partners knows that the values people hold about products tend to influence their usage of those products. We have identified an array of behaviour patterns that stem from how people feel about products. As an example, an important perspective that we have gained on the role of values and beliefs in influencing usage behaviour is the concept of "enhancement of self" that comes from association with certain brands within a product category. Self-enhancement tends to influence many of the values that form the basis of decision-making within a product category.

"Enhancement of self" can cover a diverse - and often contradictory - continuum of values and beliefs. Divergent values translate into conflicting attitudes toward using one brand over another. We often see specific brands that, in fact, have the exact same physical characteristics regardless of who is assessing their "worth", yet the "values and beliefs" about those brands are quite diverse depending on the motivational forces that are driving how one consumer (as compared to another) assesses the brands.

The concept of "enhancement of self" - both in relation to "internalized" forces and to external "relevant others" - is never stronger than when it focuses on ones desires and aspirations or on one's sense of being. To the consumer or the business decision-maker that is emotionally secure and psychologically self-contained, concern about what others think might be relatively unimportant. On the other hand, a person striving to establish a social or corporate presence or attempting to deal with a new consciousness of social interaction can be greatly influenced by the attitudes of other people. In turn, their buying patterns and preferences can be strongly influenced by other people.

Product-related values and beliefs that people hold as these are influenced by factors such as self-enhancement or inner security are critical predictors of their brand choice selection. Differences in values and beliefs become, therefore, the very cornerstone of segmenting consumers into relatively homogeneous clusters, since this basis of segmentation provides knowledge of why each cluster "segment" behaves the way it does when it comes to product-category and brand usage.

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