MOTIVATIONS FOR PRODUCT CONSUMPTION: APPLICATION OF A PROBABILISTIC MODEL TO ADOLESCENT SMOKING

This paper describes a method that can be used to investigate consumers' reported reasons for using a particular product. This method is applied to ratings of degree of agreement with statements about reasons for product use. The method is illustrated using data on self-reported reasons for smoking among adolescents. The approach used is based on a probabilistic model of similarity (Ennis et al. 1988) and provides a display of the density of respondents' individual motivations concurrent with their perceptions of the statements. Factor analysis and its derived factor scores provide complementary information which is used to understand the interdependence of smoking motivations with the age of respondents and their degree of smoking. The probabilistic similarity model has many applications in studying consumer motivations such as those involved in the consumption of particular food and personal care products.