Motivation in Consumer Behavior

Unit II: Perception – Nature of perception – perception and Marketing Strategy; Motivation – Motivation Theory and Marketing Strategy; Personality and Emotion.

Unit – II – Perception – Motivation in Consumer Behavior

Consumer Motivation
Needs and Motivation • Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. Marketers do not create needs but can make consumers aware of needs. • Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action.
Figure 4.1 Model of the Motivation Process
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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
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

Goals Structure for Weight Control
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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

The Dynamic Nature 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
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
Frustration
• Failure to achieve a goal may result in frustration. • Some adapt; others adopt defense mechanisms to protect their ego.
Defense Mechanism • Methods by which people mentally redefine frustrating situations to protect their self-images and their self-esteem

Defense Mechanisms

Arousal of Motives • Physiological arousal • Emotional arousal • Cognitive arousal • Environmental arousal
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

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs

Needs Associated with Inanimate Objects:
Acquisition, Conservancy, Order, Retention, Construction
Needs Reflecting Ambition, Power,
Accomplishment, and Prestige:
Superiority, Achievement, Recognition, Exhibition, Infavoidance
Needs Connected with Human Power:
Dominance, Deferrence, Similance, Autonomy, Contrariance
Sado-Masochistic Needs :
Aggression, Abasement
Needs Concerned with Affection between People:
Affiliation, Rejection, Nurturance, Succorance, Play
Needs Concerned with Social Intercourse:
Cognizance, Exposition

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
Measurement of Motives • Researchers rely on a combination of techniques • Combination of behavioral, subjective, and qualitative data • Construction of a measurement scale can be complex

Motivational Research • Qualitative research designed to uncover consumers’ subconscious or hidden motivations • Attempts to discover underlying feelings, attitudes, and emotions

Qualitative Motivational Research • Metaphor analysis • Storytelling • Word association and sentence completion • Thematic apperception test • Drawing pictures and photo-sorts

Personality and Consumer Behavior

What Is Personality • The inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person responds to his or her environment
The Nature of Personality • Personality reflects individual differences • Personality is consistent and enduring • Personality can change
Theories of Personality • Freudian theory – Unconscious needs or drives are at the heart of human motivation • Neo-Freudian personality theory – Social relationships are fundamental to the formation and development of personality • Trait theory – Quantitative approach to personality as a set of psychological traits

Freudian Theory • Id – Warehouse of primitive or instinctual needs for which individual seeks immediate satisfaction • Superego – Individual’s internal expression of society’s moral and ethical codes of conduct • Ego – Individual’s conscious control that balances the demands of the id and superego
Figure 5.2 A Representation of the Interrelationships Among the Id, Ego, and Superego
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Freudian Theory and “Product Personality” • Consumer researchers using Freud’s personality theory see consumer purchases as a reflection and extension of the consumer’s own personality

Snack Food Personality Traits
Potato Chips:
Ambitious, successful, high achiever, impatient
Tortilla Chips:
Perfectionist, high expectations, punctual, conservational
Pretzels:
Lively, easily bored, flirtatious, intuitive
Snack Crackers:
Rational, logical, contemplative, shy, prefers time alone

Neo-Freudian Personality Theory • We seek goals to overcome feelings of inferiority • We continually attempt to establish relationships with others to reduce tensions • Karen Horney was interested in child-parent relationships and desires to conquer feelings of anxiety. Proposed three personality groups – Compliant move toward others, they desire to be loved, wanted, and appreciated – Aggressive move against others – Detached move away from others

Trait Theory • Personality theory with a focus on psychological characteristics • Trait - any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another • Personality is linked to how consumers make their choices or to consumption of a broad product category - not a specific brand

Trait Theory
Consumer Innovators And Noninnovators • Innovativeness - The degree to which consumers are receptive to new products, new services, or new practices • Dogmatism - A personality trait that reflects the degree of rigidity a person displays toward the unfamiliar and toward information that is contrary to his or her own established beliefs • Social character - Ranges on a continuum for inner-directedness to other-directedness - Inner-directedness * rely on own values when evaluating products * Innovators - Other-directedness * look to others * less likely to be innovators • Need for uniqueness - Consumers who avoid appearing to conform to expectations or standards of others • Optimum stimulation level - A personality trait that measures the level or amount of novelty or complexity that individuals seek in their personal experiences - High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel products more readily than low OSL consumers. • Variety-novelty seeking - Measures a consumer’s degree of variety seeking - Examples include: o Exploratory Purchase Behavior o Use Innovativeness o Vicarious Exploration
Excerpt
A Sample Items from a Consumers’ Need for Uniqueness Scale 1. I collect unusual products as a way of telling people I’m different 2. When dressing, I have sometimes dared to be different in ways that others are likely to disapprove 3. When products or brands I like become extremely popular, I lose interest in them 4. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to the products I buy and the situations in which I use them, custom and rules are made to be broken 5. I have sometimes purchased unusual products or brands as a way to create a more distinctive personal image

Cognitive Personality Factors • Need for cognition (NC) – A person’s craving for enjoyment of thinking – Individual with high NC more likely to respond to ads rich in product information • Visualizers versus verbalizers – A person’s preference for information presented visually or verbally – Verbalizers prefer written information over graphics and images.
From Consumer Materialism to Compulsive Consumption • Consumer materialism – The extent to which a person is considered “materialistic” • Fixated consumption behavior – Consumers fixated on certain products or categories of products • Compulsive consumption behavior – “Addicted” or “out-of-control” consumers
Sample Items to Measure Compulsive Buying 1. When I have money, I cannot help but spend part or the whole of it. 2. I am often impulsive in my buying behavior. 3. As soon as I enter a shopping center, I have an irresistible urge to go into a shop to buy something. 4. I am one of those people who often responds to direct mail offers. 5. I have often bought a product that I did not need, while knowing I had very little money left.

Consumer Ethnocentrism • Ethnocentric consumers feel it is wrong to purchase foreign-made products • They can be targeted by stressing nationalistic themes

Brand Personality • Personality-like traits associated with brands • Examples – Purdue and freshness – Nike and athlete – BMW is performance driven – Levi’s 501 jeans are dependable and rugged • Brand personality which is strong and favorable will strengthen a brand but not necessarily demand a price premium

A Brand Personality Framework
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Product Personality Issues • Gender – Often used for brand personalities – Some product perceived as masculine (coffee and toothpaste) while others as feminine (bath soap and shampoo) • Geography – Actual locations like Philadelphia cream cheese and Arizona iced tea – Fictitious names also used such as Hidden Valley and Bear Creek • Color – Color combinations in packaging and products denotes personality
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Self and Self-Image • Consumers have a variety of enduring images of themselves • These images are associated with personality in that individuals consumption relates to self-image
The Marketing Concept
Issues Related to Self and Self-Image • One or multiple selves - A single consumer will act differently in different situations or with different people - We have a variety of social roles - Marketers can target products to a particular “self” • Makeup of the self-image - Contains traits, skills, habits, possessions, relationships and way of behavior - Developed through background, experience, and interaction with others - Consumers select products congruent with this image • Extended self - Possessions can extend self in a number of ways: o Actually o Symbolically o Conferring status or rank o Bestowing feelings of immortality o Endowing with magical powers • Altering the self- image - Consumers use self-altering products to express individualism by • Creating new self • Maintaining the existing self • Extending the self • Conforming
Different Self-Images
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----------------------- • Projection • Autism • Identification • Repression

• Aggression • Rationalization • Regression • Withdrawal

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