Benefit scheme of the Nuremberg School
One approach to describe the importance of consumer goods for the consumer that can be described as classic in economics is the so-called benefit scheme of the Nuremberg School according to Vershofen (1940). To explain the benefit , the model makes the basic division into basic benefit and additional benefit .
Wilhelm Vershofen (1878–1960), who is often referred to as the “father” of market research in Europe, was a. a. Professor at the Nuremberg Commercial College and co-founder of the Society for Consumer Research (GfK). He developed a theory that products have a specific benefit for consumers. In his opinion, this benefit can be conceptually split into different parts (see figure).
At the top level, Vershofen differentiates between 'material-technical basic benefit' and 'psychological additional benefit'. He further divides the additional benefit into 'validity benefit from the social sphere' and 'edifying benefit from the personal sphere'. Editing benefit consists in turn of 'creative joy from achievement' and 'confidence from evaluation', the latter is composed of 'harmony through aesthetics' and 'order through ethics'.
Although Vershofen remains in the description of the individual benefit categories on a very abstract level, his fundamental distinction between basic and additional benefit was still well received in economic research and is still recognized as valid today. It is therefore briefly explained below and illustrated using the example of an automobile:
According to Vershofen, the use of consumer goods at the top level lies on the one hand in their material-technical, one could also say "functional" properties. If you look at this basic use of an automobile, it would mean the possibility of getting from A to B with its help. On the other hand, goods also offer additional psychological benefits, which can be justified by the branches of the utility scheme below: a car's "validity benefit" in the social environment would be prestige, individual "edification benefit" could mean "creative joy" experiencing one's own competence while driving, as a benefit from “confidence” or “evaluation” under “harmony” the aesthetics of the automobile's exterior, under “order” the realization of a possibly personally perceived right to mobility is conceivable.
literature
- Vershofen, Wilhelm: Handbook of consumption research . Berlin 1940