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LESSON 9:
CONSUMER MOTIVATION CONCEPT
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
The study of consumer motivation essentially addresses the 70% of the population visits a shopping mall at least once per
question: “Why do people shop?” The answer, really, is that week and they are liable to do so for a variety of reasons at any
people shop for a variety of reasons and it is very difficult to one time. Shopping is certainly far more than merely going to a
make generalizations. Shopping for food can, on one level, is store to buy a product one needs or wants – people often go to
seen as satisfying some basic survival need. The problem with the mall with no intentions of spending any money at all!
that, however, is that most of us buy far more food than we
Activity 1
would actually need for basic subsistence and many of the items
What was the last item you purchased in a store? Did you go
we purchase in a supermarket are “luxuries” (relatively speak-
shopping specifically to look for it? Why did you buy it? Who
ing).
was involved in you purchasing decision? Were you happy with
One of the most influential studies of consumer motivation is the decision you made?
that conducted by Tauber (1972). According to Tauber, there are
Exercise: Make a list of all the things you noticed last time you went
two main categories of motivation for shopping:
shopping. Include anything at all that crosses your mind, from things
Personal Motives you actually saw or did to things you felt. Save the list for later!
Role Playing – some shopping activities are
associated with a particular role in Motivation–The driving force of all human behaviour
society (housewife, mother, student,
• Drive–An internal state of tension that produces actions
etc).
purported to reduce that tension
Diversion – shopping can be a form or
• Goal-object–Something in the external world whose
recreation, or an escape from daily
acquisition will reduce the tension
routine.
A very popular definition of motivation is:
Self-Gratification – shopping can be mood-related, for
instance where people engage in Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or
“retail therapy” to cheer themselves psychological deficiency or need that activates behaviour or a
up or alleviate depression. drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive. (Fred Luthans)
Learning – shopping is an ideal way to learn 3. The process of Motivation
about new fashions and trends. • Approach motivation–Desire to attain a goal object
Physical Activity – for some people, a stroll around the • Avoidance motivation–Desire to protect oneself from an
mall can be their main form of object
exercise. • Whatever the direction, motivation manifests in three
Sensory Stimulation – shoppers often report that they facets: needs, emotions and psychographics.
enjoy handling merchandise, the
Stimulus
sounds of background music, the
scents of perfume counters, etc, and
visit stores or malls to indulge in
this.
Social Motives
Social Interaction – people enjoy the opportunities for Drive/arousal
• Cognitive
social interaction with friends, • Autonomic (physiological)
• Emotive
strangers, sales staff, etc.
Peer Affiliation – certain shops allow customers mix Feedback
with key reference groups; e.g. people
with shared interests, members of a
social category they either belong to or Outcome Identification
aspire to, etc. • Experience of new state of goaldirecte
behaviour
Status & Authority – shopping experiences are sometimes • Satisfaction
Moods are emotions felt less intensely and are short-lived. • Substitute goals
• Marketing stimuli can induce positive or negative moods: • Frustration
– Ambience of store or service delivery facility
– Demeanour of salesperson 1 2 3
Hedonic Consumption
• The use of products/services for intrinsic enjoyment rather 5b 6b
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Draw out five examples for each of the three types of involve- mistake.
ment from your daily life. • It is really annoying to purchase watches that are not
suitable.
• If, after I bought a watch, my choice proves to be poor, I
would be really upset.
• Whenever one buys a watch, one never really knows
whether they are the ones that should have been bought.
• When I face a shelf of watches, I always feel a bit at a loss
to make a choice.
Again, to quantify the measure we can use the various types of
scale that we have studied before in chapter 2. For example, in
measuring involvement for buying bread:
Measuring Involvement
The basic model above shows how attributes in a product lead Fig 3.5 the expanded model
to consequences and then finally to the values. Now, what we will do is look at the example of flavoired chips
Let us now understand the means –end chain model in detail as a snacks and try to put in the expnaded model. It may look
with the help of an example as shown in the PowerPoint slide. something like this.
Self respect
If we take an example of a snacks named, Healthy Choice. Lets Healthy, better appearance
say the main attributes are Low fat, many flavors, and high Instrumental values
quality. As a direct consequence of these attributes, we can say
that low fat would lead to healthy; many flavours would mean a
variety of choices; and high quality would mean great tasting. Psychological
Consequences
Now the question is to link these consequences to the end
values. Say for instance, the consequence of health could lead to Don’t get fat
a value of self-respect and Wisdom; great tasting could lead to (Unattractive)
happiness or pleasure.
Now that we understand the means –end chain model let us
look at the expanded version of the basic model. Flavored strong Eat
chip taste less
Functional
Concrete Abstract consequen ces
attribute attributes
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
instrumental and terminal values. that at the most basic level all human beings share common
physiological and safety needs as explained by Abraham Maslow
Attribution Applications
in his ‘hierarchy of needs’. What separates one customer in one
• Advertisement. part of the world from another somewhere else are the complex
• You see an ad making strong product claims. social, cultural and esteem needs each of them has, depending
• You attribute it to the fact that the product is really good. upon the stage at which the civilisation/ nation is in the process
• It is only an ad and that the firm is exaggerating. of development. And despite centuries of technological
development, these needs have remained as crucial as ever. At
• Purchase situation. best they have undergone changes or modifications due to
• You are buying a product with lots of add-on features. cultural and social processes.
The salesperson recommends a higher price model with The real challenges for a brand manager come when he has to
added features. make the consumer aware about the product/service offered
• You attribute it to the fact that the salesperson wants you using a distinctive pattern, perhaps with a name, logo or colour,
to have the best model. so that the strategy enables the customer to correctly identify
• More commission for the salesperson. and choose the brand from a cluttered basket. The brand’s
strength is not confined to the degree of recognisability and the
Managerial Applications of Attribution Theory
quality of the product offering. Strong global brands cater to
At the end we summarise with the important managerial
strong emotional needs. A brand such as Nike talks about
applications of the attribution theory. The major applications
believing in one’s limitlessness, while one such as Rin speaks
are to:
about destroying dirt, which is presented as a threat that
• Develop believable ads. disrupts the neat orderly world that we live in.
• esolve product problems. A strong global brand while addressing a fundamental human
• Assess sales promotions motivation caters to this motivation in a distinctive way. It is
driven by a distinctive brand idea, with the product being seen
Article #1
in the marketplace merely as an expression of the brand idea.
Taking a Brand Global The product merely translates the brand idea into a tangible
For a brand to be truly global, it has to address a funda- form, with features and styles, which is delivered to the
mental consumer need, while consistently reflecting the consumer. For example, the brand idea associated with Dettol is
same set of values across the world. the complete protection it provides users from dirt and
infection. The company has adopted this idea across the globe
irrespective of the cultural domain it targets.
Consumers in all these countries experience the brand idea only
through the strategic actions of the brand in the marketplace.
These brands send market signals consistent with the idea they
stand for. Starting from the tangible attribution of the brand
through the product to the integrated marketing communica-
tion, the brand consistently sends the same signal in every
market. The more consistent this marketing signal, the clearer
the brand image across the country for global brands. Research
suggests that strong brands are built over time. Trust in a brand
gets built over a large number of interactions across a range of
situations. So a strong global brand is like a network of
complex psychological and market structural issues that include
situations, associations, behaviours, feelings and symbols held
together by a strong and powerful central idea.
A successful marketing strategy has two options in creating a
DEVELOPING a global brand largely depends on the brand’s market presence. It can kill competition by constant communi-
ability to explore fresh avenues and sustain its competitive cation and advertising or use communication to make
advantages in terms of economies of scale and productivity. A customers experience the brand and discriminate in its favour. A
global brand is one that is perceived to reflect the same set of strong global brand creates associations in the consumers’ mind
values around the world and removes national barriers and to make them see differently by guiding consumers to attach
linguistic blocks while being marketed internationally. The basics distinct functional and emotional benefits and appropriate
of brand building apply to global branding strategy also. For a meanings and beliefs to the brand. As a response to this effort,
brand to become successful, a genuine demand or a psychologi- the consumer is willing to pay a premium for these brands only
cal need must exist in the target market. if they represent added value whether as superior quality or a
clear emotional benefit.
Britannia’s connection to health is known the world over. If globalisation pressures are weak and the company’s assets —
including the brand — are not transferable, then the company
Brand communication should also communicate and connect
need not go in for a global brand. It should concentrate on
to people. The links between Britannia and health are felt all
creating a higher brand value in the domestic market. If
over the world. This connectivity is the rational justification for globalisation pressures are weak and the company has transfer-
people to overcome the extra spending required to acquire the able assets, then it should look at extending these to a similar
brand. Successful brands live beyond generations due to this market using a global brand.
ability to connect. It is also not just a question of satisfying
The home advantage due to a strong brand proposition can be
customers of different countries with varied cultural back-
used as a platform for building brands in selective markets. By
grounds, but also one of connecting with new generations of
this the company can reap added revenue and scale economies
consumers with new sets of values, hopes and ambitions. For a
with valuable international marketing experience. This category
brand to be successful globally, it has to click across the vertical
of global brand extension goes in for looking at analogous
class of generations and horizontal mass of global markets.
international markets that are similar to the home market in
In a global economy, organisations must reach customers in terms of consumer preference, geographic proximity, cultural
markets far from their home base. Strong brands act as similarity or even government regulation. Bajaj Auto’s exten-
ambassadors when companies enter new markets or offer new sion to the South Asian market for its three-wheelers is an
products. They also help in rectifying the corporate strategy to example of brand success in an analogous market. The success
define which initiatives fit within the brand concept. Profes- of Indian films with a typical emotional branding is another
sional services companies such as Andersen Consulting example of brand success.
re-branded as Accenture have realised that conveying a sense of
Companies can look for countries with a common cultural and
trust and shared mission is as important as technical compe-
linguistic heritage. The success of Ramanand Sagar’s serial
tence in winning multi-million dollar contracts across the globe.
Ramayan in the Asian market is another example. The story of
Information and the media have made us all global citizens.
Asian Paints in the Indian market has made it to go in for
This presents an organisation with the opportunity to broaden
global branding in countries such as Nepal, Fiji and Korea with
market scope by internationalising product and service market-
its typical low cost formulations and service delivery proposi-
ing in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale.
tions to support the brand name ‘Asian Paints’.
Issues in Developing a Global Brand
Companies from emerging markets can also go global and
There are various issues at the organisational level that influence launch global brands. However, for having a global brand one
the global branding strategy. There are two strategic parameters has to take into consideration a different set of opportunities
affecting decisions on global branding. They are the relative and constraints. The low cost of wages and proximity to raw
strength of globalisation pressure in that particular industry and materials also gives domestic companies a competitive advan-
the degree to which the company has internationally transferable tage to go global. If these players can overcome the deficiencies
assets. in skills and financial resources, then launching a global brand
will be a difficult proposition.
The success of Infosys and Wipro as brands in the global
market are examples of global branding successes in the hi-tech
industry. However, there are many complex factors that can
affect a global marketing strategy. These include the nature of
the product (for example, consumer durable products being
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
a particular market and even organisational history. fast-food industry. It was found that there was a variation in the
branding strategies of the companies involved, despite the fact
Common Approaches to Global Branding that many were striving to develop some degree of
The development of standardised marketing strategies can vary standardisation. This seems to indicate that the creation of a
dramatically. For example, should the strategy be based on the global strategy will meet considerable local obstacles. The
common features of a transnational mass market or upon the transition of the Marathon brand to Snickers and Opal Fruits
identification of common clusters in different countries? The to Starburst may indicate that global branding tends to be
problem for a multinational organisation is that it operates in a developed incrementally. As we can see this leads to long
number of countries and adjusts its products and practises in established brands in one country being sacrificed in order to
each at substantial cost. So, by standardising elements of the achieve harmonisation.
marketing mix through an international strategy, the argument
is that efficiency can be greatly improved. Points to Ponder
But question marks hover over the extent to which a uniform
marketing strategy can be implemented. A great deal of diversity
exists in geographical markets in terms of physical conditions
and marketing infrastructure, not to mention political and
Dynamic nature of motivation
cultural issues which may have an impact at the brand and
advertising level. Cultural disparities can be a major stumbling • Needs and goals are constantly changing
block for the generation of transnational brand names.
Initiatives such as the World Trade Organisation are obvious •Substitute goals
attempts to combat some of these problems by the removal of
national differences and the creation of a borderless world. The
idea is that this will enable the rationalisation of product mixes •Frustration
to eliminate brands geared towards particular local requirements.
Wisdom
Wisdom
Healthy Many Variety Freedom
Freedom
•A person’s perceived relevance of an Choice flavors
flavors of choices
choices (of
(of choice)
Types of Involvement
• Product involvement
• Advertising involvement