ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the underlying theories of social values. It examines the application of List of Value (LOV) and other measurement scale items in consumer literature. The social cognition requires cognitive consistency in which human values form and transform to let people adapt themselves to social environments. In order to predict consumer behavior properly, with this concern in mind, several researchers point out importance of understanding value systems as a whole, rather than separately considering individual values. The chapter discusses the theories of reasoned action and social adaptation, to illustrate theoretical construct of these assertions. A reasoned action is derived from two elements: personal attitudes and social norms. Social adaptation theory has developed reasoned action elaborating and focusing more on social values in addition to personal motivations of attitude formation. As an effort to provide empirical evidence of social values, several measurement materials have been established and utilized including Values and Lifestyle Segmentation (VALS), Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), and LOV.
