Chapter 4

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.
Model of the Motivation Process
 PRODUCT-ORIENTED CONSUMER-ORIENTED

• Pfizer • We make pharmaceuticals • Pfizer Inc. is a research based,

global pharmaceutical
company.
• Logitech • We make cameras & PC • We provide innovative
tracking devices personal interface products
that help people work, play &
communicate in digital world.

• Sony • We make electronics, • Sony is adopting new

movies, and recorded CDs marketing concept called
“segment solutions”. Sony will
no longer offer products for
the mass market, but will offer
consumers in different
lifestyle segments a variety of
solutions.
 Types of Needs
• Innate Needs
– Physiological (or biogenic) needs that are
considered primary needs or motives, they include
the needs for food, water, air, clothing, etc.

• Acquired Needs
– Learned in response to our culture or
environment. Are generally psychological and
considered secondary needs. They include needs
for self-esteem, prestige, affection, power &
learning.
Is a body spray
an innate or
acquired
need?
• Goals are 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 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
 Motivations and Goals
Positive
• Motivation
– A driving force toward some
object or condition
E.g.: person may be impelled
towards restaurant to fulfill a
hunger need
• Approach Goal
– A positive goal toward which
behavior is directed
e.g.: a middle-aged woman
joins a health club to work
out regularly.
Negative
• Motivation
A driving force away from some
object or condition
E.g.: person impelled away from
motorcycle transportation to
fulfill a safety need
• Avoidance Goal
– A negative goal from which
behavior is directed away
e.g.: while her husband may view
getting fat as a negative goal,
and so he starts exercising as
well.
 Rational versus Emotional
Motives
• Rationality implies that consumers
select goals based on totally objective
criteria such as size, weight, price, or
kmpl.
– More satisfaction

• Emotional motives imply the selection

of goals according to personal or
subjective criteria.
 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

• Aggression: Aggressive behavior

• Rationalization: inventing plausible reasons
• Regression: immature behavior
• Withdrawal: resolve by quit
• Projection: blame others for failure
• Autism: relate to reality (daydreaming)
• Identification: with relevant person or situation
• Repression: repress unsatisfied needs
 Arousal of Motives
• Physiological arousal:
– A person who is cold, may turn up heat in
bedroom, buy warm sweater
• Emotional arousal:
– A person who daydream of romance may spend
her free time in Internet single chatrooms
• Cognitive arousal:
– Random thoughts/ advertisements can lead to a
cognitive awareness of needs
• Environmental arousal:
– The sight or smell of bakery goods
 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
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 (to avoid shame, failure, humiliation)

Needs Connected with Human Power:

Dominance, Deference, Similance (suggestible attitude),
Autonomy, Contrariance (to act differently from others)
Murray’s List of Psychogenic Needs

Sado-Masochistic Needs :
Aggression, Abasement (depriving of self esteem)

Needs Concerned with Affection between People:

Affiliation, Rejection,
Nurturance (to nourish, aid, or protect the helpless),
Succorance (to seek aid, protection or sympathy), Play

Needs Concerned with Social Intercourse:

Cognizance (inquiring attitude),
Exposition (expositive attitude)
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
 Power
• Power needs relates to an individual’s
desire to control his or her own
environment
• It includes need to control other
persons and various objects
• It is an ego or self esteem need
• E.g.: ThumpsUp- Taste the thunder
 Affiliation
• This need suggests that behavior is
strongly influenced by desire for
friendship, for acceptance, for
belonging
• People are socially dependent on
others
(E.g.: Buying on others choice)
 Achievement
• Individuals with a strong need for
achievement often regard personal
accomplishment as an end in itself
• It is both egoistic and self-actualization
• People with a high need for achievement
tend to be more self-confident, enjoy taking
calculated risks, actively research their
environments and value feedback.
• High achievement is useful promotional
strategy targeted to educated and affluent
consumers.
• E.g.: Sports bike/car.
 Motivational Research
• Qualitative research designed to uncover
consumers’ subconscious or hidden
motivations
• Attempts to discover underlying feelings,
attitudes, and emotions
• Researchers rely on a combination of
techniques
• Combination of behavioral, subjective, and
qualitative data
• Construction of a measurement scale can be
complex
 How motives are measured
• Motives are hypothetical constructs
• To measure status consumption, i.e. the
tendency to purchase goods and services for
the prestige that owning them bestows.
• Eg:-
 I would buy a product just because it has
status
 I am interested in new product with status
 I would pay more for a product if it had status
 Status of product is irrelevant to me
 A product is more valuable to me if it had snob
appeal
Projective Techniques used in
Motivational Research
• Metaphor analysis: The use of sounds, music, drawings or
pictures to express oneself to describe or represent feelings about another
is called metaphor.
• Storytelling: This method consists of having customers tell real-life
stories regarding their use of product under study.
• Word association: In this method, respondents are presented
with words, one at a time, & asked to utter or list the first word that comes to
mind after they hear each word.
• Thematic apperception test: It consists of showing pictures
to individual respondents and asking them to tell a story about each picture.
E.g. clearasil
• Drawing picture: Visual Images are often used to study
consumers’ perceptions of various brands and to develop new
advertising strategies.
Many Companies Specialize in
Motivational Research
Pulsar
 Pre-Launch

• Market Trend
• Perception of higher capacity
• Success of CBZ
 Launch

• Twins launched
• Redefined the trend
• New Needs (high efficiency, low cost)
 Motivation Factor

• Aimed at the segment of 18-24

• First bike endowed with sex (He bike)
• “Definitely male”…
• New TG “21-35”
• Innovation and motivation (DTSi Tech)..
• Definitely male
• Digital biking
• Distinctly ahead
 Reference
• Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Consumer Motivation in
“Consumer Behavior”, 8th edition, Pearson Education.
• http://www.fao.org/docrep/w704e/w7504e04.htm#
• http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/consumer_motivation.htm