Understanding the needs of the consumer is the most important starting point in presenting a successful offering to a consumer. By offering we mean any product or service or a combination which is being marketed to the consumer.

The Value perceived from any offering can be related as a ratio of it’s function to cost and the quality associated with it can again be equated as a ratio of it’s performance to Expectation.
Thus,
Quality(Q) =Performance(p) / Expectations(e)
and
Value(V) = Function(f) / Cost(c)
Any offering is accompanied by these two elements the Quality and the Value, which become the deciding factors to accept or ignore the offering from a consumer’s point of view.
Thereby, understanding the Expectations from the Offering becomes  an integral start-point .Once the expectations are understood a corresponding high performance will give a higher degree of quality.
It is for this reason why in-depth consumer researches become an essential part of any-offering.