Individual influences

on consumer behaviour

UNIT-3

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MOTIVATION
UNIT-3(1)

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The Concept of Motivation

Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels

them to action.
A motive is the inner force that simulates and compels certain
behavioural response and provides specific direction to that
response.
The driving force is produced by a state of tension, which exists
as the result of an unfulfilled need.

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NEEDS

Need is a felt state of deprivation of some basic satisfaction.

Every individual has needs: some are innate, other are acquired.

Innate needs are physiological (i.e., biogenic); they include the

needs for food, water, air, clothing and shelter. These needs are
primary needs.

Acquired needs are needs that we learn in response to our culture

or environment. This includes needs for self-esteem, prestige,
affection, power and learning. These needs are secondary needs.

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GOALS

Goals are the sought-after results of motivated behaviour.

Generic
Goals
Goals
Product
Specific
Goals
The goals selected by the individuals depend on their personal
experiences, physical capacity, prevailing norms and values, and
the goal’s accessibility in the physical and social environment.
Needs and goals are interdependent and neither can exist without
the other.
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE GOAL
A Positive goal is one toward which behaviour is directed.

A Negative goal is one from which behaviour is directed away.

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RATIONAL VERSUS EMOTIONAL MOTIVES
Rational motive implies that consumers select goals based on
totally objective criteria such as size, weight, price, etc.

Emotional motives imply the selection of goals according to

personal or subjective criteria (e.g. pride, fear, affection, or
status).

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FRUSTRATION AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Failure to achieve a goal may result in frustration.
Some adapt; others adopt defense mechanisms to protect their
ego.

DEFENSE MECHANISMS:
People who cannot cope with frustration often mentally redefine
their frustrating situations in order to protect their self –images
and self-esteem. The defense mechanisms include:
Aggression: In response to frustration, individuals may resort to
aggressive behaviour in attempting to protect their self esteem.

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Regression: An individual may react to a frustrating situation with
childish or immature behaviour.
Withdrawal: Frustration may be resolved by simply withdrawing
from the situation.
Rationalization: Supplying a logical or rational reason as opposed
to the real reason. Ex: Not having enough time to practise.
Projection: An individual may redefine a frustrating situation by
projecting blame for his or her own failures and inabilities on
other objects or persons.
Repression: Another way that individuals avoid the tension arising
from frustration is by repressing the unsatisfied need. Thus
individuals may “force” the need out of their conscious
awareness.
Daydreaming: It enables the individual to attain imaginary
gratification of unfulfilled needs.

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MOTIVATION THEORIES AND
MARKETING STRATEGY

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MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Dr. Abraham Maslow 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.
The lowest level of chronically unsatisfied need that an individual
experiences serves to motivate his or her behaviour.
When that need is fairly well satisfied a new (and higher) need
emerges that the individual is motivated to fulfill. When this
need is satisfied, a new (and still higher) need emerges, and so on.

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MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

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An 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.
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 and it facilitates product positioning or repositioning.

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MCGUIRE’S PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVES
McGuire divides motivation into four main categories using two
criteria:
Is the mode of motivation cognitive or affective?
Is the motive focused on preservation of the status quo or on
growth?

Cognitive motives focus on the person’s need for being adaptively

oriented toward the environment and achieving a sense of
meaning.
Affective motives deal with the need to reach satisfying feeling
states and to obtain personal goals.
Preservation-oriented motives emphasize the individual as striving
to maintain equilibrium, while Growth motives emphasize
development.
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These 4 main categories are then further subdivided on the bases
of source and objective of the motive:
3. Is this behaviour actively initiated or in response to the
environment ?
4. Does this behaviour help the individual achieve a new internal
or a new external relationship to the environment?

The third criterion distinguishes between motives that are actively

or internally aroused versus those that are a more passive response
to circumstances.
The final criterion is used to categorize outcomes that are internal
to the individual and those focused on a relationship with the
environment.

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COGNITIVE PRESERVATION MOTIVES
1. Need for Consistency (active, internal)
- A need for consistency means consumers are reluctant to accept
information that disagrees with existing beliefs.

2. Need for Attribution (active, external)

- Do we attribute the cause of a favourable outcome to ourselves
or to some outside force.

3. Need to Categorize (passive, internal)

- People establish categories or mental partitions to help them
categorize and organize the vast information and experiences.
- Prices are often categorized such that different prices connote
different categories of goods.

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4. Need for Objectification (passive, external)
- These motives reflect needs for observable cues or symbols that
enable us to infer what we feel and know.
- Impressions, feelings and attitudes are subtly established by
viewing our own behaviour and that of others and drawing
inferences as to what one feels and thinks.

COGNITIVE GROWTH MOTIVES

1. Need for Autonomy (independent) (active, internal)
- This motive deals with the need to express one’s identity to
others.
- Owning or using products and services that are unique is one
way consumers express their autonomy.

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2. Need for Stimulation (active, external)
- People often seek variety and difference out of a need for
stimulation.
- Variety seeking behaviour is one of the reason for brand
switching.

3. Teleological Need (passive, internal)

- Consumers are pattern matchers who have images of desired
outcomes or end states with which they compare their current
situation.

4. Utilitarian Need (passive, external)

- It views the consumer as a problem solver who approaches
situations as opportunities to acquire useful information or new
skills.
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AFFECTIVE PRESERVATION MOTIVES
1. Need for Tension reduction (active, internal)
- In order to effectively manage tension and stress, people are
motivated to seek ways to reduce arousal.

2. Need for Expression (active, external)

- This motive deals with the need to express one’s identity to
others.

3. Need for Ego Defense (passive, internal)

- When one’s identity is threatened, the person is motivate to
protect his or her self-concept and utilize defensive behaviours
and attitudes.

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4. Need for Reinforcement (passive, external)
- People are often motivated to act in certain ways because they
were rewarded for behaving that way in similar situations in the
past.

AFFECTIVE GROWTH MOTIVES

1. Need for Assertion (active, internal)
- Many people are competitive achievers who seek success,
admiration, and dominance.

2. Need for Affiliation (active, external)

- Affiliation refers to the need to develop mutually helpful and
satisfying relationships with others.
- It relates to seeking acceptance and affection in interpersonal
relations.
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3. Need for Identification (passive, internal)
- The need for identification results in the consumers playing
various roles.
- One gains pleasure from adding new, satisfying roles and by
increasing the significance of roles already adopted.

4. Need for Modeling (passive, external)

- The need for modeling reflects a tendency to base behaviour on
that of others.
- Modeling is a major means by which children learn to become
consumers.

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