How values shape the choices people make

The same person choosing the same product in different contexts makes more different decisions than two different people choosing the same product in the same context.

Think about yourself for a second. You can buy a shirt of your favorite band to look cooler. Or pick a blazer for an important meeting because you want to look professional. You may even buy a flowery outfit for the beach. Same person, same problem, three choices, three different values.

Those values and beliefs are what give consumption its emotional meaning. And that goes far past practical use.

Here is the point: we eat to stop being hungry, but what we choose to eat, where and how changes completely with the moment and the circumstances. The same act of eating can carry entirely different meanings.

A cheap packed lunch can keep you alive. Celebrating an achievement at an expensive restaurant can stand for merit or reward. Buying chocolate for children at Easter is a genuine show of affection. Inviting someone special to dinner somewhere nice reveals the wish to impress.

See how values transform buying?

The pattern repeats in other sectors. In the vehicle market, every motorcycle is a way to get around, and each one carries a meaning that changes with the rider. A small first bike stands for achievement and independence to a young person in a first job. For a business owner to feel that same taste of victory, the bike probably has to be much bigger.

In the smartphone market, any device makes calls and sends messages. The choices reveal values: some people buy for the advanced camera, others for the processing power. Others buy to show they think differently, or to feel wealthier.

Now you are starting to see how the customer mind works. Shall we learn to identify those values?

"Zé, are you telling me I have to study every single human being?"

Yes and no. We are unique and unpredictable, and we are also shaped by patterns. We live under the same economic model, share the same laws and social agreements, and recognize similar basic needs. The real difference lies in buying power, in social position and in the way each person gives meaning to their experience.

In the book Types of Men, the philosopher Eduard Spranger presents a powerful tool for understanding how people see the world. According to him there are three basic attitudes, split into six universal values, that map how individuals give meaning to what they buy. Those beliefs, often invisible, shape their choices directly.

The six types of person according to Eduard Spranger

Before talking about brands you have to look at the human being. There is no choice with no value behind it. For Spranger, each person lives guided by one dominant value. That value is not a trend, not a passing emotion and not a simple preference. It is the way the person sees the world. It is the lens that organizes what they consider right, important or acceptable.

Nobody is made of a single value. One always weighs more. And that value is what shows up in decisions, in the way a person reacts, builds bonds, rejects products and engages with brands.

The idea here is to explain the six Spranger types in a practical way, without turning theory into jargon. Economic, political, theoretical, religious, aesthetic and social are not labels. They are inner directions. Each one lives differently and responds to stimulus differently. Anyone working with brands and communication has to recognize that.

The theoretical customer

The theoretical type moves through life needing clarity. They have to understand how things work. They do not accept half of the information. They analyze, compare, research and only decide once everything makes logical sense to them. Spranger describes this type as someone driven by the search for true knowledge.

This customer does not trust empty promises. They want data. They want to understand the mechanics, the chemistry, the engineering behind the product. For them, knowledge reduces uncertainty, and uncertainty bothers them deeply.

Think of the person who spends hours researching before buying a phone. They do not care whether it is pretty or in fashion. They want to know which processor is more efficient, how many cores it has, what the clock speed is and how that hits real performance. They watch technical videos, read specifications, compare one product against another.

Or think of the customer choosing a water filter. The theoretical type does not pick the most famous brand or the nicest box. They research the filtering methods: activated carbon, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light. They want to know which system removes more contaminants, how long each filter element lasts, what the flow rate is. They do not choose by price or by advertising. They choose because they understood which one works better for what they need.

In the market, the theoretical type values brands that hide nothing. They respect transparency. If you sell a product and explain exactly how it works, why it works, what it is made of and where it comes from, you win this customer. They bond when they feel the brand treats them as someone intelligent enough to make an informed decision.

The theoretical type rejects empty emotional marketing. Pretty music and happy images do not work on them. They want data, comparisons, evidence. When they find a brand that offers that, they become loyal. Not out of emotion, out of rational trust.

The economic customer

The economic type is not the miser, they are guided by efficiency. They look for the best return on the investment, and that can mean paying much more. Spranger describes this type as someone who values the practical usefulness of things. They do not waste. They do not spend for the sake of spending. They also do not save in a stupid way. They calculate return.

The economic type thinks like this: what does this cost me against what practical result does it deliver?

Think of a person buying a laptop. They can pick a basic model or a professional one that costs four times more. The economic type does not automatically go for the cheapest. They do the math: if the cheap laptop freezes, takes forever to process and makes me lose hours of productivity every day, over a year I lost hundreds of working hours. If those hours are worth money, the cheap laptop ends up far more expensive. The expensive one is infinitely more economical.

Or think of the business owner choosing a management system. They can use a free spreadsheet or pay monthly for professional software. The economic type does not stay with the free one. They calculate: the spreadsheet costs me hours every month in rework, errors and missing integration. The professional software actually saves time and money.

They value tools that raise efficiency, even expensive ones. They value products that last, even when the initial investment is high. They value services that solve real problems, even when they look expensive at first.

The economic type buys the inverter air conditioner that costs more upfront, because they calculate the savings on the power bill every month. Within a few months it has paid for itself. The rest is profit. They hire the expensive lawyer instead of the cheap one, because they know the expensive one settles the problem for good and the cheap one may leave gaps that cost far more later.

This customer values durability, performance, real functionality and return on investment. They respect brands that keep their promises and deliver genuine value. They hate misleading advertising. If you say the product lasts 12 months and it lasts 6, you lose this customer for good.

The economic type buys to solve problems and maximize results. They want things to work well, last a long time and justify every cent invested. When they find a brand that delivers that consistently, they come back every time. Not out of emotion, out of the practical logic of return.

The aesthetic customer

The aesthetic type lives the world through sensitivity. They do not only see, they feel. They do not only hear, they absorb. Spranger explains this type as someone driven by the search for beauty, harmony and sensory experience. For them, form matters as much as function. Sometimes more.

This customer chooses by the atmosphere, by the design, by the sensation something produces in them. They walk into a bakery and decide whether to come back based on the lighting, the smell, how the space is organized, how the bread is displayed. The bread may be the same as the bakery next door, and if the experience is better they pay more and keep coming back.

Think of the person who picks a restaurant by the decoration. They want the room to be beautiful, the music to be pleasant, the plates to be well presented. The food has to be good, of course, and if it arrives on an ugly plate, at a badly laid table, in a room with no personality, it loses its charm.

Or think of the customer buying clothes. The aesthetic person does not only want the garment to be comfortable and durable. They want it to express something. The color has to work, the fit has to be beautiful, the fabric has to feel right. They value the visual identity of the brand, the way the shop is arranged, even the bag the purchase comes in.

The aesthetic type is the customer who photographs the plate before eating. Not to show off, but because they genuinely appreciate the beauty of that moment. They value brands that create memorable experiences, that take care of the details, that have a strong visual identity.

In the market, the aesthetic type responds to brands that invest in design, in environment, in visual coherence. They need no rational justification to buy. If they feel something is beautiful, authentic and well made, they buy it. Sensory emotion is the criterion.

Brands that try to compete on price or function alone fail with this audience. The aesthetic type pays more for something well presented, well packaged, beautifully built. They value craft, personalization and visual exclusivity. When they find a brand that speaks the language of beauty honestly, they fall in love.

The political customer

The political type is not a professional politician. According to Spranger, the political person is driven by the need to assert position, win power and exercise influence. For them, buying is a tool of social communication and image building. They do not only buy the product. They buy what that product says about their place in the social hierarchy.

The political type knows power is not only about competence. It is about perception. And buying shapes that perception. Think of the executive with the designer suit, the Swiss watch and the imported car. They do that because those symbols communicate authority before they open their mouth. When they walk into a meeting, people already judge them by the clothes, the watch, the car. And that affects how they are treated, heard and respected.

Or think of the artist wearing a gold chain, limited edition sneakers and recognizable labels. They are communicating too: I made it, and I am the proof that it can be done. The clothing is not vanity, it is a visual statement of achievement.

The political type buys to stand apart. They do not want to be like everyone else. They want to be above. Imported cars are sacred territory for this customer. A Ferrari, a Porsche, a Mercedes are not only transport. They are declarations of power. The political type knows people judge by the car. They arrive in a BMW and are treated differently. They know it and use it.

Luxury clothing works the same way. A tailored Italian suit, a Hermès bag, a pair of Louboutins. They are social armour. They signal belonging to another level. They buy the VIP ticket not because the view is better. They buy it because VIP means very important person. It is a physical difference. It is literally standing above, in a place not everyone can reach.

The political type values exclusivity. Limited editions. Restricted access. Special invitations. Anything that says not everyone can have this, but you can. Because every exclusive item reinforces their difference. They look for leadership positions. They want to be the chief executive, the director, the president, the leader, the influencer. They want the title that communicates authority. And they buy in a way that reinforces that role.

In the market, the political type rejects brands with no strong social reputation. It does not matter whether the product is good. If nobody recognizes the brand, it is useless to them. Because the product is not doing the social signalling work they need. They will pay much more for something objectively inferior, as long as it reinforces their position.

Brands that understand the political customer know they are not selling products. They are selling difference, status and symbolic power. Once you understand that the political type uses buying to build authority and influence, you stop judging them as shallow and start communicating with them effectively. They have legitimate social needs for recognition, power and leadership, and buying is the most effective tool they have to meet them.

The religious customer

Religious here does not necessarily mean someone who goes to church or temple. Spranger uses the term to describe whoever seeks a deep coherence between belief and action. It is about inner unity. It is about living according to principles that go beyond the immediate. The religious type seeks perfection, transcendence and absolute coherence. For them the world is not a pile of isolated facts, it is a system that has to make sense under a larger truth.

The religious type does not decide on impulse. They filter everything through their fundamental values. It may be faith, it may be ethics, it may be a philosophy of life or the pursuit of personal perfection. What matters is that an internal criterion exists and is not up for negotiation. They do not only seek the common good, they seek the integrity of their own being. If they fail to follow their principles, they do not feel social guilt alone; they feel an internal collapse.

Think of the bodybuilder on a strict diet. They refuse the pizza at the weekend not because pizza is expensive or ugly. They refuse because there is a larger goal: building the ideal body. They seek a physical transcendence, the body as a temple. For them, every food choice is an act of loyalty to their own principles. Breaking the diet is not only eating badly, it is betraying themselves, breaking a rite of perfection. In the same way a Christian may give up the pleasures of the flesh, not for lack of desire, but in pursuit of paradise. The sacrifice is the price of coherence.

Or think of a vegan through that lens. They reject any product of animal origin because they seek a state of ethical purity and justice that goes beyond convenience. They pay more and give up comfort because the gap between what they believe and what they buy would be unbearable. For the religious type, buying reflects character. They want to know whether this purchase reinforces or contradicts their values.

The religious type is the customer who researches company practice in depth. They want to know whether there is hypocrisy. If the brand calls itself sustainable and pollutes, they walk away. If the brand calls itself ethical and exploits its workers, they boycott. For them character is not negotiable and hypocrisy is the greatest sin. In the market they form deep bonds with brands that live their values in practice and with consistency. When they find that coherence, they become a fierce defender, because that brand faithfully represents their view of the world.

The social customer

The social type organizes life around the relationship with other people. Spranger describes this type as someone driven by genuine empathy, care for others and collective responsibility. Where the religious type seeks inner unity and the perfection of principles, the social type seeks to affirm the value of life. They cannot separate the act of buying from the human consciousness involved in that transaction. For them, every buying decision is a gesture of love or of disregard for the next person.

This customer constantly thinks about the impact of their choices on the community. They are not focused on personal transcendence or on a code of perfection; they are focused on other people. For them, buying is a tool of social justice and of distributing dignity. Every purchase is in fact a vote on the kind of society they want to build.

Think of the person who chooses the small producer market over the big supermarket, even paying more. They do not do it to reach personal purity, they do it because they want that family farmer to prosper. They want their money to reach the hands of whoever works the land.

The social type is the one who donates, who hires the service provider they know in order to help them, who cares whether the coffee they drink is fair trade. They want to know whether the brand pays a decent wage and treats its people with humanity. If the answer is no, they do not buy, because they feel the pain of someone else being exploited as if it were their own. They value companies that give something back to society, that hire people with disabilities or that invest in community education.

The social type does not buy for themselves alone; they buy thinking of the collective and of preserving human relationships. They bond with brands that show real care for people. They do not want empty social marketing, they want humane practice. When they find out a brand exploits people, they feel personally betrayed and leave. For the social customer, profit can never stand above a human being.

When values collide

Values do not live in peace; they live at war. That conflict explains much of the arguing, the misunderstanding and the polarization we see in the world. Heated debates about politics, lifestyle, consumption and world views are not stubbornness alone. It is sociology, psychology and the market dancing a complex round where each person sees reality through a different lens.

To understand the clash, we can organize the values into three battlegrounds: the traditional, the utilitarian and the individualist.

The utilitarian block, made of the economic and the theoretical types, focuses on efficiency, results and logic. To the economic type, an aesthetic person will always be someone wasting resources on frivolity. They ask why anyone would spend so much on a beautiful plate when a cheap one kills the hunger just as well. The theoretical type looks at the religious one and sees irrationality. They cannot understand refusing a profitable deal over a conviction with no logical or scientific basis. For the utilitarian block, whatever cannot be measured or converted into progress is a waste of time.

The individualist block, made of the political and the aesthetic types, values self expression and position in the world. The political type seeks influence and recognition. To them, the social type is a naive idealist, because they believe helping others is pointless if you have no power to change the structures. The aesthetic type despises the coldness of the economic one. They believe a life with no beauty and no experience is empty, and see no point in stacking up numbers if you cannot appreciate the harmony of a moment.

The traditional block, made of the religious and the social types, is ruled by principles that go beyond the individual, focusing on moral order or on the wellbeing of others. The religious type seeks unity between belief and action; to them, the theoretical type is a cold soul that analyzes everything and lives nothing with purpose. The social type focuses on other people. They look at the political type and see an inflated ego, asking why anyone needs that much spotlight instead of using the energy to care for whoever needs it.

These conflicts happen everywhere: at the dinner table, in board meetings and in the comments on social media. The clash happens because each group judges the other with its own ruler. The utilitarian judges by usefulness, or the lack of it. The individualist judges by impact and by form. The traditional judges by intention and by morality.

Once you understand that this is not about right or wrong people, but about fundamental values colliding, you stop judging and start reading the behavior underneath. In the market, that is worth a great deal. You stop selling features and start selling resonance.

The same person, different values

The same person can carry different values for different categories. You can be extremely economic when buying cleaning products and entirely aesthetic when choosing clothes. You can be theoretical when buying electronics and social when choosing a product that promises to help people. You can be political when buying a car and religious when choosing food.

Think of the last time you picked a restaurant. Why that one and not another? Maybe because the waiters know their wine, which is theoretical. Or because you worked out that the price per dish pays off for the quality and the portion, which is economic. Or because the room was beautiful, the lighting perfect, the plates well presented, which is aesthetic. Or because that restaurant employs people from the local community and you wanted to support it, which is social. Or because it was the most talked about place in town and you wanted to be seen there, which is political. Or because it has healthy options that keep you on your diet, which is religious.

Six different people can choose the same restaurant for completely different values. And the same person can choose different restaurants depending on which value is dominant at that moment.

Why this matters

A smart market does not try to please everyone.

Travel agencies usually talk about aesthetic experiences. Retreats and open courses speak to the religious type. Degrees and scientific publications speak to the theoretical type. Luxury brands and exclusive experiences speak to the political type. Cooperatives and social causes connect with the social type. Investment brokers build relationships with the economic type.

Each of those markets chose which value to speak to. And accepted that the others will criticize them.

Understanding values is understanding why your product works for some people and deeply irritates others. It is understanding that you do not have to please everyone. You have to understand deeply who you want to serve.