ABSTRACT
One of the problems facing value research is the semantic ambiguity inherent in the abstractness of value constructs and how they usually are presented, unrelated to any context, thus threatening the comparability of data. The use of pictorial stimuli may solve this problem, because they present the value construct in a context and give additional cues to its interpretation. In quantitative values and lifestyle research, however, pictorial stimuli have played a minor role so far. To our knowledge, only the Centre de Communication Avance (CCA) research agency in Paris has made extensive use of pictorial stimuli in their lifestyle questionnaires. Much more common with value and lifestyle research is the use of quantitative techniques with standardized measurement instruments, such as inventories like the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), Values and Lifestyles (VALS), the List of Values (LOV), or the Schwartz Value Indicator (SVI).
