With the advent of Internet, a subject seems peculiar to marketing: understanding the "brand new" on-line consumer behavior. One way of doing such thing is to explore the customer value as means to comprehend what consumers valorize and than deliver it. Customer value is the consumer's perception of product attributes and how these can provide benefits that help him reach his goals. The theory of means-end chains is a way of thinking systematically about this representation. The method most widely used to reach means-end chains is called laddering. A sample of 78 readers of a mainstream on-line newspaper was assessed. Its users' main customer values offered important conclusions. It was identified that readers are mainly concerned about their personal objectives, interaction with others as well as interested in social matters. Based on this, managerial implications are discussed. Suggestions for future researches are also presented.
On-line consumer; customer value; means-end chains; laddering; competitive advantage