Consumer Behavior

Part : 02
Personal Factors on Chapter-04
Consumer
Behavior

Consumer Motivation

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 Chapter 4
Consumer Behavior:
Consumer Motivation

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 Chapter Outline
 Model of the Motivation Process
 Goals
 Motives
 Needs
 Motivational Research

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 Needs and Motivation
 Motivation is the driving force within individuals that
impels them to action.
 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.

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 Needs and Motivation
 Marketers must view motivation as the force that
induces consumption and, through consumption
experiences, the process of consumer learning.
 Next slide depicts a model of the motivational process.

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 Model of the Motivation Process

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 Types of Needs
 Needs are the essence of the marketing concept.
Marketers do not create needs but can make
consumers aware of needs.
 Every individual has needs : some are innate, others
are acquired.
 Innate (Biological) Needs : Physiological (or
Biogenic) needs that are considered primary needs
or motives.
 Acquired Needs : Learned in response to our culture
or environment. They are generally psychological
and considered secondary needs. They result from
the individual’s subjective psychological state and
from relationships with others.

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 Types of Needs
 Example : All individuals need shelter from the
elements; thus finding a place to live fulfills an
important primary need (innate) for a newly
transferred executive. However, the kind of home
she rents or buys may be the result of secondary
need (acquired).

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 Goals
 Goals are the sought-after results of motivated
behavior. As the next slide indicates that all behavior is
goal-oriented.
 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.

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 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.

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 The Selection of Goals
 For any given need, there are many different and
appropriate 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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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’.

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 Positive and Negative Goals

Positive Goal

Positive Motivation

Approach Object

Avoidance Object

Negative Motivation
Negative Goal

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 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.

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 Positive and Negative Motivation

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

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 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.

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 The Dynamic Nature of Motivation
 Motivation is a highly dynamic construct that is
constantly changing in reaction to life experiences.
 Needs and Goals change and grow in response to an
individual’s physical condition, environment,
interactions with others, and experiences.

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 The Dynamic Nature 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)

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 Substitute Goals
 When an individual cannot attain a specific goal
(primary goal) that he or she anticipates will satisfy
certain needs, behavior may be directed to a Substitute
Goal.
 Although the ‘Substitute Goal’ may not be as
satisfactory as the primary goal, it may be sufficient to
dispel uncomfortable tension.
 Continued deprivation of a primary goal may result in
the Substitute Goal assuming primary status. For
example, a woman who has stopped drinking whole milk
because she is dieting may actually begin to prefer skim
milk.

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 Frustration
 Failure to achieve a goal may result in ‘Frustration’.
 The barrier that prevents attainment of a goal may be
personal to the individual (e.g., limited physical or
financial resources) or an obstacle in the physical or
social environment (e.g., a storm that causes the
postponement of a long-awaited vacation).
 Regardless of the cause, individuals react differently to
frustrating situations. Some adapt; others are less
adaptive and may regard their inability to achieve a
goal as a personal failure. Such people are likely to
adopt ‘Defense Mechanisms’ to protect their ego.

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 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.

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 Defense Mechanisms

 Aggression  Projection
 Rationalization  Daydreaming/Autism
 Regression  Identification
 Withdrawal  Repression

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 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)

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 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.

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 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.

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 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

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 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.
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 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.

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 Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of
Motives
 There are two opposing philosophies concerned with
the arousal of human motives.
 Behaviorist School
 Cognitive School

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 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.

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 Types and Systems of Needs
 For many years, psychologists and others interested
in human behavior have attempted to develop
exhaustive lists of human needs.
 Although there is little disagreement about specific
Physiological Needs, there is considerable
disagreement about specific Psychological
(Psychogenic) Needs.
 In 1938, the psychologist Henry Murray prepared a
detailed list of 28 psychogenic needs.

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 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.

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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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 Hierarchy of Needs
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.
 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.

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 Hierarchy of Needs
An 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)

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 Hierarchy of Needs
An Evaluation of the Need Hierarchy and
Marketing Applications

Ad with Social Appeal

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 This ad reflects
a need for
accomplishment
with a
toothpaste.

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 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

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 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.

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 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.

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 Measurement of Motives
 How are motives identified? How are they measured?
How do researchers know which motives are
responsible for certain kinds of behavior?
 These are difficult questions to answer because
motives are hypothetical constructs-they cannot be
seen or touched, handled, or smelled. For this reason,
no single measurement method can be considered a
reliable index.
 Researchers rely on a combination of various research
techniques to try to establish the presence and
strength of various motives.

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 Measurement of Motives
 By using a combination of assessments based on
behavioral data (observation), subjective data (self-
reports-in which a person is asked to report his or her
own behavior or mental contents), and qualitative data
(projective tests etc.), many consumer researchers feel
confident that they are achieving more valid insights
into consumer motivations than they would be using
any one technique alone, however there is a clear need
for improved methodological procedures for measuring
human motives.

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 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.

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 Motivational Research
Qualitative 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 Analysis
 Storytelling
 Word Association
 Sentence Completion
 Thematic Apperception Test
 Drawing Pictures and Photo Sorts (The consumers
express their feelings about brands through pictures of
different types of people)

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 Motivational Research

Many Companies Specialize in Motivational Research

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 Ethics and Consumer Motivation

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 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.

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 Activity

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