Consumer Behavior

Consumer Motivation
 CHAPTER
FOUR

Consumer Motivation
 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.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 3
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 4
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 5
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 6
 Discussion Questions

• What are three generic goals you have set for

yourself in the past year?
• What are three product-specific goals you have set in
the past year?
• In what situations are these two related?
• How were these goals selected? Was it personal
experiences, physical capacity, or prevailing cultural
norms and values?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 7
 Motivations and Goals

Positive Negative

• Motivation • Motivation
• A driving force • A driving force away
toward some object from some object or
or condition condition
• Approach Goal • Avoidance Goal
• A positive goal • A negative goal from
toward which which behavior is
behavior is directed directed away

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 8
 Blogger’s Motivation - Table 4.1 (excerpt)
Construct Items
Blogging for I use my blog to free my mind when I am moody.
self- I express myself by writing in my blog.
expressing My blog is the place where I express what I feel.
Blogging for I use my blog as my diary to document my life.
life By writing text and posting video/audio files, I keep a record of my life.
documenting
Blogging for I’m willing to comment on what other bloggers say.
commenting I’d like to respond to other blogs that I read (no matter if I know of the
blogger or not).
I’d like to receive people’s comments on what I post on my blog.
Blogging for Blogging helps me to make more like-minded friends.
forum In my blogroll I have friends with whom I can share things.
participating By blogging I interact with a set of blogs that have contents similar to
what I put in my blog.
Blogging for Blogging helps me extract information behind events that interest me.
information Blogging helps me explore more information about products and/or
seeking services.
To me it is convenient to search for information by blogging.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 9
 Rational versus Emotional Motives

• Rationality implies 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 10
 Discussion Questions

• What products
might be purchased
using rational and
emotional motives?
• What marketing
strategies are
effective when there
are combined
motives?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 11
 The Dynamics of Motivation

• Needs are never fully satisfied

• New needs emerge as old needs are satisfied
• People who achieve their goals set new and
higher goals for themselves

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 12
 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 13
 Frustration

• Failure to achieve a goal may result in

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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 14
 Defense Mechanisms- Table 4.2 (excerpt)
Construct Items
Aggression In response to frustration, individuals may resort to aggressive behavior
in attempting to protect their self-esteem. The tennis pro
who slams his tennis racket to the ground when disappointed with
his game or the baseball player who physically intimidates an umpire
for his call are examples of such conduct. So are consumer
boycotts of companies or stores.
Rationalization People sometimes resolve frustration by inventing plausible reasons
for being unable to attain their goals (e.g., not having enough
time to practice) or deciding that the goal is not really worth pursuing
(e.g., how important is it to achieve a high bowling score?).
Regression An individual may react to a frustrating situation with childish or
immature behavior. A shopper attending a bargain sale, for example,
may fight over merchandise and even rip a garment that another
shopper will not relinquish rather than allow the other
person to have it.
Withdrawal Frustration may be resolved by simply withdrawing from the situation.
For instance, a person who has difficulty achieving officer
status in an organization may decide he can use his time more
constructively in other activities and simply quit that organization.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 15
 Arousal of Motives

• Physiological arousal
• Emotional arousal
• Cognitive arousal
• Environmental arousal

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 How Does This Ad
Arouse One’s Needs?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 17
The Ad Is Designed to Arouse One’s Yearning
for an Adventurous Vacation by Appealing to
the Sense of Touch

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 18
 Philosophies Concerned with
Arousal of Motives
• Behaviorist School
– Behavior is response to stimulus
– Elements of conscious thoughts are to be ignored
– Consumer does not act, but reacts
• Cognitive School
– Behavior is directed at goal achievement
– Needs and past experiences are reasoned, categorized,
and transformed into attitudes and beliefs

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 19
 Types and Systems of Needs

• Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

• A trio of needs

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 20
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Figure 4.10

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 21
 Discussion Questions

• What are three types of products related to

more then one level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs?
• For each type of product, consider two
brands. How do marketers attempt to
differentiate their product from the
competition?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 22
 A Trio of Needs

• Power
– individual’s desire to control environment
• Affiliation
– need for friendship, acceptance, and belonging
• Achievement
– need for personal accomplishment
– closely related to egoistic and self-actualization
needs

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 23
 Power And Achievement Needs

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 24
 Measurement of Motives

• Researchers rely on a
combination of
techniques
• Qualitative research is
widely used
• Projective techniques are
often very successful in
identifying motives.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 25
 Qualitative Measures of Motives
Table 4.7 (excerpt)
• Uses pictures as a stimulus for the
METAPHOR consumer to express their thoughts,
ANALYSIS feelings, and beliefs regarding a product or
brand.

• This method consists of having customers

STORYTELLING tell real-life stories regarding their use of
the product under study.

WORD ASSOCIATION • In this method, respondents are presented

AND SENTENCE with words, one at a time, and asked to say
COMPLETION the first word that comes to mind.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 26
 Motivational Research

• Term coined in the 1950s by Dr. Ernest Dichter

• Based on premise that consumers are not
always aware of their motivations
• Identifies underlying feelings, attitudes, and
emotions

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Four Slide 27