CHAPTER 4CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: CONSUMER MOTIVATION

1

Learning Objectives

• To Understand the Types of Human Needs and Motives and the Meaning of Goals.

• To Understand the Dynamics of Motivation, Arousal of Needs, Setting of Goals, and Interrelationship Between Needs and Goals.

• To Learn About Several Systems of Needs Developed by Researchers.

• To Understand How Human Motives Are Studied and Measured.

2

Motivation as a Psychological Force

• Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action.

• Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. Marketers do not create needs but can make consumers aware of needs.

3

Needs and Motivation

• This driving force is produced by a state of tension, which exists as the result of an unfulfilled need.

• Individuals strive both consciously and subconsciously to reduce this tension through behavior that they anticipate will fulfill their needs and thus relieve them of the stress they feel.

4

Model of the Motivation Process

5

Types of Needs

• Innate Needs• Physiological (or biogenic) needs that are considered primary

needs or motives

• Acquired Needs• Learned in response to our culture or environment. Are generally

psychological and considered secondary needs

6

Goals

• The sought-after results of motivated behavior• Generic goals are general categories of goals that consumers see

as a way to fulfill their needs• Product-specific goals are specifically branded products or services

that consumers select as their goals

7

Goals

Note : Marketers are particularly concerned with product-specific goals, that is, the specifically branded goods and services that consumers select for goal fulfillment.

Example : If a student tells his parents that he wants to become a medical doctor, he has stated a Generic Goal. If he says he wants to get an M.D. degree from UCLA, he has expressed a Product-Specific Goal.

8

The Selection of Goals

• The goals selected by an individual depend on their:• Personal experiences• Physical capacity• Prevailing cultural norms and values• Goal’s accessibility in the physical and social environment

9

Interdependence of Needs and Goals

• Needs and Goals are interdependent; neither exists without the other. However people are often not as aware of their needs as they are of their goals. For example, a teenager may not consciously be aware of his social needs but may join a number of chat groups online to meet new friends.

• Individuals are usually somewhat more aware of their physiological needs than they are of their psychological needs. Most people know when they are hungry, thirsty, or cold, and they take appropriate steps to satisfy these needs. The same people may not consciously be aware of their needs for acceptance, self-esteem, or status.

10

Positive and Negative Motivation

Motivation can be Positive or Negative in direction. We may feel a driving force toward some object or condition or a driving force away from some object or condition.

For example, a person may be impelled toward a restaurant to fulfill a hunger need, and away from motorcycle transportation to fulfill a safety need.

Some psychologists refer to positive drives as needs, wants, or desires and to negative drives as fears or aversions.

11

Positive and Negative Motivation

Positive • Motivation

• A driving force toward some object or condition

• Approach Goal• A positive goal toward

which behavior is directed

Negative • Motivation

A driving force away from some object or condition

• Avoidance Goal• A negative goal from which

behavior is directed away

12

Positive and Negative Goals

• Needs, wants, or desires may lead to goals that can be positive or negative.

• A Positive Goal is one toward which behavior is directed; it is often referred to as an ‘Approach Object’.

• A Negative Goal is one from which behavior is directed away and is referred to as an ‘Avoidance Object’.

13

Positive and Negative Goals

Approach Object

Avoidance Object

Positive Motivation

Negative Motivation

Positive Goal

Negative Goal

14

Positive and Negative Goals

• Example : A middle-aged woman with a positive goal of fitness may join a health club to work out regularly. Her husband, who views getting fat as a negative goal , joins a health club to guide his exercise.

• In the former case, the wife’s actions are designed to achieve the positive goal of health and fitness; in the latter case, her husband’s actions are designed to avoid a negative goal-a flabby physique.

15

Rational versus Emotional Motives

Some consumer behaviorists distinguish between so-called Rational Motives and Emotional Motives.

Rational Motives imply that consumers select goals based on totally objective criteria such as size, weight, price, or miles per gallon.

Emotional Motives imply the selection of goals according to personal or subjective criteria (e.g. pride, fear, affection, or status).

The assumption underlying this distinction is that subjective or emotional criteria do not maximize utility or satisfaction.

16

The Dynamics of Motivation

• Some of the reasons why need-driven human activity never ceases include the following.

Needs are never fully or permanently satisfied (like hunger)

New needs emerge as old needs are satisfied (hierarchy of needs exists and that new higher-order emerge as lower-order needs are fulfilled)

People who achieve their goals set new and higher goals for themselves (Success and failure influence goals. For example a college senior who is not accepted into medical school may try instead to become a dentist)

17

Substitute Goals

• Are used when a consumer cannot attain a specific goal he/she anticipates will satisfy a need

• The substitute goal will dispel tension

• Substitute goals may actually replace the primary goal over time

18

Frustration

• Failure to achieve a goal may result in frustration.

• Some adapt; others adopt defense mechanisms to protect their ego.

19

Defense Mechanisms

• People who cannot cope with frustration often mentally redefine their frustrating situations to protect their self-images and self-esteem.

• For example, a young woman may yearn for a European vacation she cannot afford. The coping individual may select a less expensive vacation trip to Disneyland. The person who cannot cope may react with anger toward her boss for not paying her enough money to afford the vacation she prefers (Aggression), or she may persuade herself that Europe is unseasonably warm this year (Rationalization).

• The types of Defense Mechanisms are given on next slide.

20

Defense Mechanisms

• Aggression• Rationalization• Regression• Withdrawal

• Projection• Daydreaming/Autism• Identification• Repression

21

Defense Mechanisms

Aggression (Aggressive behavior)Rationalization (Inventing plausible reasons for failure)Regression (Childish or immature behavior)Withdrawal (Withdrawing from the situation)Projection (Projecting blame for his or her own failures on

other others)Daydreaming (Fantasizing)Identification (Identifying with other persons or situations which

considered relevant)Repression (Repressing the unsatisfied need-Sublimation)

22

Defense Mechanisms

• Marketers often consider this fact in their selection of advertising appeals and construct advertisements that portray a person resolving a particular frustration through the use of the advertised product.

23

Multiplicity of Needs and Variation of Goals

• A consumer’s behavior often fulfills more than one need. In fact, it is likely that specific goals are selected because they fulfill several needs. We buy clothing for protection and for a certain degree of modesty; in addition, our clothing fulfills a wide range of personal and social needs, such as acceptance or ego needs.

24

Arousal of Motives

• Most of an individual’s specific needs are dormant much of the time. The arousal of any particular set of needs at a specific moment in time may be caused by internal stimuli found in the individual’s physiological condition, by emotional or cognitive processes, or by stimuli in the outside environment.

i. Physiological Arousal

ii. Emotional Arousal

iii. Cognitive Arousal

iv. Environmental Arousal

25

Arousal of Motives

i. Physiological Arousal : Bodily needs at any one specific moment in time are based on the individual’s physiological condition at that moment. Like, a drop in blood sugar level or stomach contractions will trigger awareness of a hunger need.

ii. Emotional Arousal : Sometimes daydreaming results in the arousal or stimulation of latent needs. People who are bored or frustrated in trying to achieve their goals often engage in daydreaming, in which they imagine themselves in all sorts of desirable situations. These thoughts may produce tension that drive them into goal-oriented behavior. Like, a young man who dreams of being a famous novelist may enroll in a writing workshop.

26

Arousal of Motives

iii. Cognitive Arousal : Sometimes random thoughts can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs. An advertisement that provides reminders of home might trigger instant yearning to speak with one’s parents. This is the basis for many long-distance telephone company campaigns that stress the low cost of international long-distance rates.

iv. Environmental Arousal : The set of needs an individual experiences at a particular time are often activated by specific cues in the environment. Without these cues, the needs might remain dormant. For example, a young college student may see a new, slick-looking cell phone model with more features displayed in a store window. The exposure may make him unhappy with his old cell phone and cause him to experience tension that will be reduced only when he buys himself the new cell phone model.

27

Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of Motives

• There are two opposing philosophies concerned with the arousal of human motives.

Behaviorist SchoolCognitive School

28

Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of Motives

Behaviorist School

It considers motivation to be a mechanical process Behavior is response to stimulus Elements of conscious thoughts are to be ignored Consumer does not act, but reacts An extreme example is that of impulse buyer who reacts

largely to external stimuli in the buying situation.

Cognitive School

All behavior is directed at goal achievement Needs and past experiences are reasoned, categorized, and

transformed into attitudes and beliefs, and they determine the actions he/she takes to achieve the need satisfaction.

29

Types and Systems of Needs

• Henry Murray’s 28 psychogenic needs• Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs• A trio of needs

30

Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs

31

Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs (continued)

32

Hierarchy of Needs

Dr. Abraham Maslow, a clinical psychologist, formulated a widely accepted theory of human motivation based on the notion of a universal hierarchy of human needs.

Maslow’s theory identifies five basic levels of human needs, which rank in order of importance from lower-level (biogenic) needs to higher-level (psychogenic) needs.

The theory postulates that individuals seek to satisfy lower-level needs before higher-level needs emerge.

33

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

34

To Which of Maslow’sNeeds Does This Ad Appeal?

35

35

Both Physiological and Social Needs

36

To Which of Maslow’sNeeds Does This Ad Appeal?

37

Egoistic Needs

38

To Which of Maslow’sNeeds Does This Ad Appeal?

39

Self-Actualization

40

Hierarchy of NeedsAn Evaluation of the Need Hierarchy and Marketing Applications

The need hierarchy has received wide acceptance in many social disciplines because it appears to reflect the assumed or inferred motivations of many people in our society.

The five levels of need are sufficiently generic to encompass most lists of individual needs.

The major problem with the theory is that it cannot be tested empirically; there is no way to measure precisely how satisfied one level of need must be before the next higher need becomes operative.

41

Hierarchy of NeedsAn Evaluation of the Need Hierarchy and Marketing Applications

Despite these limitations, the hierarchy offers a highly useful framework for marketers trying to develop appropriate advertising appeals for their products. It is adaptable in two ways.

First, it enables marketers to focus their advertising appeals on a need level that is likely to be shared by a large segment of the target audience. (BMW ad which stresses power, an egoistic need)

Second, it facilitates product positioning or repositioning. (Ad of soft drink showing group of young people enjoying themselves and the advertised product, social appeal)

42

A Trio of Needs

Some psychologists believe in the existence of a trio of basic needs.

i. Need for Power

ii. Need for Affiliation

iii. Need for Achievement

43

A Trio of Needs

Power : It relates to an individual’s desire to control his/her environment. It includes the need to control other persons and various objects. This need appears to be closely related to the ego need, in that many individuals experience increased self-esteem when they exercise power over objects or people.

Affiliation : Affiliation is a well-known and well-researched social motive that has far-reaching influence on consumer behavior. The affiliation need suggests that behavior is strongly influenced by the desire for friendship, for acceptance, for belonging. People with high affiliation needs tend to be socially dependent on others. They often select goods they feel will meet with the approval of friends.

44

A Trio of Needs

Achievement : The individuals with strong need for achievement often regard personal accomplishment as an end in itself. The achievement need is closely related to both the egoistic need and the self-actualization need.

45

To Which of the Trioof Needs Does This Ad Appeal?

46

The Affiliation Needs Of Young, Environmentally Concerned Adults

47

To Which of the Trioof Needs Does This Ad Appeal?

48

Affiliation Need

49

Measurement of Motives

• Researchers rely on a combination of techniques

• Qualitative research is widely used

• Projective techniques are often very successful in identifying motives.

50

Qualitative Measures of MotivesTable 4.7 (excerpt)

51

Motivational Research

The term Motivational Research is used to refer to qualitative research designed to uncover the consumer’s subconscious or hidden motivations.

• Based on the premise that consumers are not always aware of the reasons for their actions, Motivational Research attempts to discover underlying feelings, attitudes, and emotions concerning product, service, or brand use.

52

Motivational ResearchQualitative Research Techniques used in Motivational Research

• There are a number of qualitative research techniques that are used to delve into the consumer’s unconscious or hidden motivations.

Metaphor AnalysisStorytellingWord AssociationSentence CompletionThematic Apperception TestDrawing Pictures and Photo Sorts (The consumers express their

feelings about brands through pictures of different types of people)

53

Motivational Research

Many Companies Specialize in Motivational Research

54

Motivational Research

• Despite some shortcomings, Motivational Research has proved to be of great value to marketers concerned with developing new ideas and new copy appeals.

• Furthermore, Motivational Research findings provide consumer researchers with basic insights that enable them to design structured, quantitative marketing research studies to be conducted on larger, more representative samples of consumers.

55

Ethics and Consumer Motivation

• The ethical issues regarding motivation and consumption behavior are focused on the promotion by some marketers of undesirable behaviors (e.g., smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive buying), and the targeting of vulnerable populations.

• However, when undesirable consequences affect large numbers of consumers, societal forces put pressure on the marketers responsible and persuade them to curtail or eliminate these unethical marketing practices.

56

Ethics and Consumer Motivation

• Advertising often motivates consumers to buy and consume larger amounts of certain products.

For example, in 2004, the food industry spent $10 billion on marketing to children, significantly contributing to the number of obese or overweight children. As a result some law makers have called for legislation regulating food advertising to children.

In response to these criticisms, Kraft Foods stopped TV advertising of certain products to children and increased their advertising of sugar-free drinks and smaller packages of cookies. McDonald’s, a company frequently accused of selling junk foods with too much fat and poor nutritional quality, has eliminated some of its “super-sized” offerings and begun selling more salads. They even offer apples as a desert alternative to calorie-laden pies.

57

Ethics and Consumer Motivation

58

Ethics and Consumer Motivation

• Children are not the only vulnerable population. Teenagers and college students are often provided with too much easy credit, which puts them into financial difficulties for years.

59

Thank you.

60