Consumer needs &

motives

Motivation, Emotion, Mood,

and Involvement

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Chapter Spotlights
n How human needs motivate consumers
to buy
n What specific motives play a role in
marketplace behavior
n How marketers can elicit specific
emotions to sell products and services
n How moods affect consumption patterns
n How consumer involvement with
products and services changes the
effects of marketing information

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Consumer Motivation
n It is the drive to
satisfy needs and
wants, both
physiological and
psychological,
through the
purchase and use
of products and
services.
n Stages of the
motivation
process:
n Latent need
n Drive
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Behavioral Models of
Motivation
n Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
n Motivation as a means of satisfying human needs
n Five types of needs:
n Physiological: food, water, sleep, exercise, sex
n Safety: security, shelter, normalcy in daily life
n Love and belongingness: affection and
acceptance as part of a family or group
n Esteem or status: respect from others; need to
feel competent, confident, important, and
appreciated; self-respect
n Self-actualization: the need to realize one’s own
potential, to achieve dreams and ambitions;
hunger for knowledge and understanding; to
do things for the sake of doing them
n Marketing implications

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Models (continued)
n Dichter’s major consumption
motives
n 1950 study regarding the
consumer needs motivating the
purchase of Ivory soap (P&G).
n He found a relation between the
use of soap and the need for
spiritual purity
n 12 key motivations lead to product
purchase
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Models (continued)
n Sheth’s consumer motives
n Five dimensions of motivation
concerning products/services
benefits
n Functional – utility or function
performed
n Aesthetic/emotional – appearance
or attractiveness
n Social – status or esteem value
n Situational – unexpected benefit
n Curiosity – interest aroused
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Consumer Motivation and
Marketplace Behavior
n Influence on consumer decision making
(Exh 8-6)
n Influence on consumer conflict
resolution
n Approach-approach conflict – choosing
between two equally attractive options
n Approach-avoidance conflict –
considering an option that has both
good and bad outcomes
n Avoidance-avoidance conflict – choosing
between two undesirable options
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Triggering Consumer
Motives
n Encouraging need recognition
n Attempt to move consumer from
actual state to desired state
n Triggering motivation through
need-benefit segmentation
n Understand consumer benefits
sought and offer goods and
services to deliver these benefits
to specific target segments

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Emotions
n Emotions are affective responses
that reflect the activation within
the consumer of beliefs that are
deep-seated and value-laden.
n Beliefs  emotions
n

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Emotions (continued)
n Experiencing emotions
n People purchase products and services to
experience certain emotional states or
to achieve emotional goals (emotional
arousal)
n Emotions and consumer satisfaction:
e.g. joy or pleasant surprise yield
satisfaction while distress or anger
yield dissatisfaction
n Emotions and communication: e.g.
pleasure or displeasure with ad yields
similar attitudes toward the ad and
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
How Emotional States are
Induced
n People have little control over the
affective system
n Affective responses to
environmental cues are
immediate and automatic (e.g.
color)
n Some control is possible through
our behavior
n Advertising and emotions
n Anger
n Fear
n Humor
n Warmth
n Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Mood
n It is an affective state that is general
and pervasive
n Moods are much less intense than
emotions
n Consumers are much less conscious of
moods and the effect of moods on
marketplace behavior.
n Consumer moods are induced in three
different marketplace settings (Exh. 8 –
12):
n Service encounters
n Point-of-Purchase stimuli
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Effects of Moods
n On consumer recall
n Recall increases if mood at time of
encoding and retrieval match
n On consumer evaluation
n Negative mood  negative product
or service evaluation (and vice
versa)
n On consumer behavior
n Positive mood increases giving,
encourages consumers to seek
variety and their willingness to try
new things Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Inducing Positive Moods
n In service encounters
n Transaction mechanics
n Service personnel
n Physical setting
n In marketing
communications
n Media placement –
medium is part of the
message
n Message aspects –
claims, emotional
music, pictures, etc.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Involvement
n A heightened state of awareness based
on importance that motivates
consumers to seek out, attend to, and
think about product information prior
to purchase.
n Two types of involvement
n Situational – tied to a particular
situation/circumstance and specific
product
n Enduring – tied to a product category;
persistent over time and across
different situations Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Effects of Consumer
Involvement
n Information search
n High involvement  greater information search
(more shopping around)
n Information processing
n Depth of comprehension
n High involvement  deeper comprehension
n Extent of cognitive elaboration
n High involvement  more thinking
n Extent of external arousal
n High involvement  greater emotional arousal
n Information transmission
n High involvement  more frequent information
transmission (talking about products) to
others

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Causes of Consumer
Involvement
n Personal factors
n Product’s image and needs it serves are
congruent with a consumer’s self-image,
values and needs  high involvement
n Product factors
n The greater the perceived risk the greater
consumer involvement
n The more alternatives there are to choose from,
the greater the involvement
n The higher the hedonic value of goods, the
greater the involvement
n The more socially visible a product is, the greater
the involvement


Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Causes (continued)
n Situational factors
n Social pressure can significantly
increase involvement
n The imminence of the decision
heightens involvement
n Irrevocable purchase decisions
heighten enrollment


Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Involvement-based
Consumer Behavior
Models
n Low-involvement learning model
n Replacing old brand perceptions with new beliefs

without attitude change

n Learn (information)-Feel (attitude)-Do (behavior)
hierarchy (See Exhibit 8 – 14)
n High involvement/high thinking (Thinker): Learn-

Feel-Do
n High involvement/high feeling (Feeler): Feel-

Learn-Do
n Low involvement/low thinking (Doer): Do-Learn-

Feel
n Low involvement/low feeling (Reactor): Do-Feel-

Learn
n
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002
Models (continued)
n Level of message processing model
n Consumer attention to advertising is
influenced by the following four levels
of involvement: pre-attention, focal
attention, comprehension, and
elaboration
n Product versus brand involvement
model
n Brand loyalists
n Information seekers
n Routine brand buyers
n Brand switchers
Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002