“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition.

It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon
to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.”
- Barak Obama

Consumer Motivation
SBUP-I-21-23-CB-KC
Consumer Behavior
Session III-IV
Wednesday, 24th November 2021
Course Facebook Page:
SBUP Marketing Management 2021

Text Reference:
Chapter 3, Consumer Motivation & Personality,
Consumer Behavior, 12th Edition, Schiffman-Wisenblit-Ramesh Kumar, Pearson
 Learning Objectives

Consumer Motivation
1. What Motivates Us?
1. Process of Motivation

2. Need System
1. Dynamics of Motivation
2. Human Needs, Motives and Goals
3. Arousal of Needs

3. Consumer Involvement
4. Motivation Theories & Their Applications in CB
5. Hygiene-Motivation Factors
6. Motivational Research
 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
• Need Types
• Innate- Primary- Physiological Needs
• Acquired- Secondary- Psychological Needs
Consumer Motivation Process
 Motives and Motivation

Positive Negative

• Positive Motivation • Negative Motivation

• A driving force toward some • A driving force away from
object or condition some object or condition
• Approach Goal • Avoidance Goal
• A positive goal toward which • A negative goal from which
behavior is directed behavior is directed away

• (Promotion Focus) • (Prevention Focus)

Marketers: Select ‘USP’ & Positioning from +ve & -ve Motivations
 Rational versus Emotional Motives

• Rationality implies that consumers select goals based on totally

objective criteria, such as size, weight, price or mileage/ KMPL
• Tangible/ Quantitative/ Logical

• Emotional motives imply the selection of goals according to

personal or subjective criteria
• Intangible/ Qualitative/ Hedonic
 Generic versus Specific 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

• The goals selected by an individual depend on their:

• Personal experiences
• Physical capacity
• Prevailing cultural norms and values
 Need System: Dynamics of Need & Motivation

• Needs are the essence of the marketing concept

• Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action
• Goal is the need satisfying outcome; Needs are dormant- Goals are active
• Marketers do not create needs but can make consumers aware of needs
• 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
• Success & Failure influence goals
• Success
• New, Higher order needs
• Failure
• Substitute goals: Adopted when goals are not attained, They ease tension
• Frustration
• Defense Mechanisms- Coping Strategies
• Withdrawal, Aggression, Rationalization etc.
 Defense Mechanisms
Construct Items
Aggression The tennis pro who slams his tennis racket to the ground when disappointed
with his game or the baseball player who physically intimidates an umpire
for his call are examples of such conduct. So are consumer
boycotts of companies or stores.

Rationalization People sometimes resolve frustration by inventing plausible reasons

for being unable to attain their goals (e.g., not having enough
time to practice) or deciding that the goal is not really worth pursuing
(e.g., how important is it to achieve a high bowling score?).
Regression An individual may react to a frustrating situation with childish or
immature behavior. A shopper attending a bargain sale, for example,
may fight over merchandise and even rip a garment that another
shopper will not relinquish rather than allow the other
person to have it.
Withdrawal Frustration may be resolved by simply withdrawing from the situation.
For instance, a person who has difficulty achieving officer
status in an organization may decide he can use his time more
constructively in other activities and simply quit that organization.

Projection, Day Dreaming, Identification

 Arousal of Needs-Motives

• Dormant needs can be awakened by stimuli doing

• Physiological arousal
• Honda Jazz- Why so serious?? (Bring back the feeling Ad)
• Spicejet- Gogol Basu Ad
• Emotional arousal
• LIC (Financial security, Family Welfare)
• Cognitive arousal
• Syska LED Lighting (Functional benefits/Economic Run)
• Environmental arousal
• Idea: ‘No Fooling’ Ads, No Fooling Anthem; Tanishq-Remarriage ad
 Consumer Involvement
Degree of personal relevance a consumer finds in pursuing value from a given
consumption act & Value is closely tied to making right choice

High Involvement High Involvement- High Involvement-

Central Route Peripheral Route

EPS RRB
Extensive Problem Solving Routine Response Behavior/
Brand Loyal
Involvement
Low Involvement- Low Involvement-
Central Route Peripheral Route

LPS Impulse Buying

Limited Problem Solving

Low Involvement

Information processing
Central Route Peripheral Route
 Levels of Consumer Involvement
Involvement Extensive Problem Limited Problem Routine Response Variety Seeking
Levels/ Stakes Solving Solving Behavior Behavior/
EPS LPS RRB Impulse
Involvement High Medium Low Low

Time spent High High/medium Low Low

Awareness/ Less Some Much Some

acquaintance
Ticket size Big Medium Small Varies/small

Information External + internal Mostly internal Internal Credible/ positive

Alternatives All/ many Few One Many

Example House/ Car Electronics Personal Hygiene Handicrafts/

Products Restaurants/
Confectionary

Central Route Peripheral Route

to Persuasion to Persuasion

Read: Page 190, Chapter 6- Analyzing Consumer Markets

 Motivation Theories

• Henry Murray’s 28 Psychogenic needs

• 28 Psychogenic- Secondary needs
• A Trio of Needs
• Power, Affiliation & Achievement
• Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 A Trio of Needs

• Need for Power

• individual’s desire to control environment
• Need for Affiliation
• need for friendship, acceptance and belonging
• Need for Achievement
• need for personal accomplishment
• closely related to egoistic and self-actualization needs

Trio of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy

Power Safety & Security needs
Affiliation Social needs
Achievement Esteem, Self-actualization
Motivation Theories
• Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Has been valid

• Across World
• Across Ages
• But stages are not mutually exclusive
• Is not measurable empirically

• Marketers
• Estimate Segments & Income class
prevailing in societies
• Project consumption &
product modifications
 E-tailing Platforms
Fashion Food Tech Travel Grocery Furniture Music VoD Jobsites

Myntra Swiggy MMT BigBasket Pepperfry Spotify Netflix LinkedIN

Jabong Zomato Expedia Grofers UrbanLadder Saavn Amazon Naukri

Prime

Flipkart FoodPanda TravelGuru DMart FabFurnish Gaana Hotstar Monster

Yebhi UberEats Yatra BigBazar HomeCenter Amazon Sony Liv Shine

Music

Zivame Deliveroo EaseMyTrip Nature’s StitchWood Youtube Zee5 Times jobs

Basket Music

Koov GrubHub Cleartrip Flipkart Zuari Apple Music Eros Now Indeed

Fashion&U MenuLog GoIbibo Amazon WoodenStreet Google Play Voot Click Jobs
Music

Yepme TastyKhana IRCTC JioMart Hometown Pandora Alt Balaji Workrr.in

More: News Agg/ Room Agg/ Cab Agg/ Car Rental Agg/ Car Sharing Agg/ Bike Agg/Services/Education
 Motivational Research

• Term coined in the 1950s by Dr. Ernest Dichter

• Qualitative Researches: Based on premise that-

• Consumers are not always aware of their motivations
• It is important to identify consumer’s underlying feelings, attitudes and emotions
• Methods are mostly Self Reports & Qualitative Researches
• Researchers rely on a combination of techniques
• Projective techniques: Helps consumers project it on an external phenomena
• In-depth Interviews: are often very successful in identifying motives

• Leads marketers to design brand identity & brand personality

 In-depth Interviews: Probing Consumer’s Motives

• Means-End Chain
links consumer knowledge about product attributes
with their knowledge about consequences & values

Product Knowledge Self Knowledge

Product -Attributes -Functional Consequences –Psycho Social Consequences-values –Self Image

• Laddering : analyzing means-end chains to reveal how certain goods and services are
connected with personal values in the minds of the consumers
 Means-End Chain: Laddering

Need Self-esteem

Benefit Feeling of power

Psycho Social Conseq.

Performance

Functional Consequence
Fast acceleration

Attributes
Large engine

Basic needs of consumers do not change, but the products they buy changes with time
Projective Techniques: Qualitative Measures of Motives

• This method ZMET stands for Zaltman Metaphor

METAPHOR Elicitation Test/ Technique
ANALYSIS • DuPont used this method to study women’s emotions
regarding usage of dupont rubber in clothing.

• This method consists of having customers tell real-

life stories regarding their use of the product under
STORYTELLING study.
• ‘My Roohafza Story’, Nestle’s Maggi ‘My 2 Min Story’

PICTURE/ WORD • In this method, respondents are presented with

pictures, one at a time, and asked to say the first
ASSOCIATION AND word that comes to mind.
SENTENCE • Asked to complete a sentence or do slogan
COMPLETION writing