Laddering is used to reveal the deeper meaning of products or services  for a client. In this way more insight can be gained about the  perception of the market. Through ‘attributes’ of a product or service  and ‘effects’ of these attributes the ‘values’ of the product or service are revealed.
A division in two is made of previous mentioned  concepts. For “attributes” a division is made between “tangible  attributes” and “intangible attributes”. For “effects” a distinction is  made between “practical effects” and “mentally or social effects”. For  “values” a distinction is made between “instrumental values” and “end  values”.

An example for the car industry can make this more clear. In this market tangible attributes can be: power of the motor, colour, price, fuel consumption
Intangible attributes can be : quality, design, safety
Practical effects can be: mobility, extra time, speed
Mentally or social effects can be: Status, socially involved, participation
Instrumental values can be: Come and go whenever you want.
End values can be: freedom, protection, adventure, independence

This way of presenting has the likeness of a ladder in which one climbs from the tangible attributes to the end values. The Kelly Grid method can be used to obtain the attributes. To reveal the end values long in-depth  interviews are needed. So the laddering method is relatively time  consuming.