1. CHAPTER 4
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:
CONSUMER MOTIVATION
1

2. Learning Objectives
• To Understand the Types of Human Needs and Motives and
the Meaning of Goals.
• To Understand the Dynamics of Motivation, Arousal of Needs,
Setting of Goals, and Interrelationship Between Needs and
Goals.
• To Learn About Several Systems of Needs Developed by
Researchers.
• To Understand How Human Motives Are Studied and
Measured.
2

3. 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.
3

4. Needs and Motivation
• 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.
4

5. Model of the Motivation Process
5

6. 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
6

7. 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
7

8. 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.
8

9. 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
9

10. 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.
10

11. 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.
11

12. Positive and Negative Motivation
Positive
• Motivation
• A driving force toward
some object or condition
• Approach Goal
• A positive goal toward
which behavior is
directed
Negative
• Motivation
A driving force away from
some object or condition
• Avoidance Goal
• A negative goal from which
behavior is directed away
12

13. 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’.
13

14. Positive and Negative Goals
Approach Object
Avoidance Object
Positive Motivation
Negative Motivation
Positive Goal
Negative Goal
14

15. 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.
15

16. 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.
16

17. The Dynamics 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)
17

18. 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
18

19. Frustration
• Failure to achieve a goal may result in frustration.
• Some adapt; others adopt defense mechanisms to protect their
ego.
19

20. 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.
20

21. Defense Mechanisms
• Aggression
• Rationalization
• Regression
• Withdrawal
• Projection
• Daydreaming/Autism
• Identification
• Repression
21

22. 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)
22

23. 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.
23

24. 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.
24

25. 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
25

26. 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.
26

27. 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.
27

28. Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of
Motives
• There are two opposing philosophies concerned with the
arousal of human motives.
Behaviorist School
Cognitive School
28

29. 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.
29

30. Types and Systems of Needs
• Henry Murray’s 28 psychogenic needs
• Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• A trio of needs
30

31. Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs
31

32. Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs
(continued)
32

33. 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.
33

34. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
34

35. To Which of Maslow’s
Needs Does This Ad Appeal?
35
35

36. Both Physiological and Social Needs
36

37. To Which of Maslow’s
Needs Does This Ad Appeal?
37

38. Egoistic Needs
38

39. To Which of Maslow’s
Needs Does This Ad Appeal?
39

40. Self-Actualization
40

41. 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.
41

42. 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)
42

43. 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
43

44. 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.
44

45. 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.
45

46. To Which of the Trio
of Needs Does This Ad Appeal?
46

47. The Affiliation Needs Of Young,
Environmentally Concerned Adults
47

48. To Which of the Trio
of Needs Does This Ad Appeal?
48

49. Affiliation Need
49

50. Measurement of Motives
• Researchers rely on a
combination of techniques
• Qualitative research is widely
used
• Projective techniques are often
very successful in identifying
motives.
50

51. Qualitative Measures of Motives
Table 4.7 (excerpt)
51

52. 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.
52

53. 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)
53

54. Motivational Research
Many Companies Specialize in Motivational Research
54

55. 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.
55

56. 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.
56

57. 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.
57

58. Ethics and Consumer Motivation
58

59. 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.
59

60. Thank you.
60