Is it worth it? Why do we buy, follow, like this product, service, person? There is both material value as well as immaterial value.
Value can be measured in terms of what the service/product is in physical or material terms, what it does for you in terms of fulfillment – material or immaterial – and it has value in form of what you think of it in immaterial terms.
So value can be thought of as the sum of what you see, what it does for you , what thinking it starts in your mind. A detailed set of factors can be set up for the three areas, and you the stakeholder can be active in forming this value.
What is the value you put on a brand of car or a particular beer or whatever? How do you think and reason when you choose? Are you independent or do you follow”the sayings”?
The practical use of this thinking is to make us more conscious about choices we make and things we do, and maybe more direct to the point, more efficient. It also has to do with your basic values – they are largely subjective, but is also influenced by external values you find in society in general.
Marketing people use this thinking to influence us, often building images with little physical substance. This can be profitable for them, but maybe you pay too much for the thinking it starts in your head. Basic solutions will often do, but the images are not vivid enough.
Start your thinking about values and see if you are surprised in any way: what is it, what does it do for you, what do you think of it.
This thinking has tentatively been applied to ecology and environmentalism to help us find what we really and basically need – what are our material needs, what are our immaterial needs and do we need to change our thinking if the world shall become a better place? Life conditions of value is the goal, but not neccesarily a high standard of living.
The science of values is called axiology and is an emerging field.