Chapter 4
Motivation and Values
Motivation
4-2
Motivation refers to the processes that cause
people to behave as they do.
 Once a need is aroused, a state of tension
exists that drives the consumer to attempt to
reduce or eliminate the need.
 Needs can be:

– Utilitarian: a desire to achieve some functional or
practical benefit.
– Hedonic: an experiential need, involving emotional
responses or fantasies.
The Motivation Process
Tension
Drive Strength
Drive Direction
Behavior
Want
Goal
4-3
4-4
Motivational Strength
The Degree to Which a Person is Willing to Expend
Energy to Reach One Goal as Opposed to Another.
Biological Vs. Learned Needs
(Instinct Drives Behavior)
Drive Theory
Focuses on Biological
Needs that Produce
Unpleasant States of
Arousal, i.e. Hunger.
Homeostasis: Behavior
Which Tries to Reduce or
Eliminate This Unpleasant
State and Return to
Balance.
Expectancy Theory
Behavior is Largely
Pulled by Expectations
of Achieving Desirable
Outcomes - Positive
Incentives - Rather Than
Pushed From Within.
Motivational Direction
Needs Versus Wants
Specific Way a Need is Satisfied Depends on:
Individual’s Unique History, Learning Experiences
and Cultural Environment.
Types of Needs
Biogenic
Psychogenic
Utilitarian
Hedonic
4-5
4-6
Motivational Direction
Motivational Conflicts
Approach-Approach
Two Desirable
Alternatives
(The Theory of
Cognitive Dissonance)
Approach-Avoidance
Negative
Consequences
Avoidance-Avoidance
Two Undesirable
Consequences
Other Consumer Needs
Achievement
Affiliation
Power
Uniqueness
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self
Actualization
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
4-7
4-8
Consumer Involvement
Involvement
The Level of Perceived Personal Importance
and/or Interest Evoked by a Stimulus
Involvement
The Motivation to Process Information
Levels of Involvement
Simple Processing
“Inertia” (Habit)
Elaboration
Conceptualizing Involvement
4-9
The Many Faces of Involvement
Product:
Related to a Consumer’s
Level of Interest in
a Particular
Product.
4-10
Message (Advertising)Response:
Refers to a Consumer’s
Interest in Processing
Marketing
Communications.
Purchase Situation:
Refers to the Importance
of the Situational
Context of Buying.
Strategies to Increase Involvement
Build a Bond
With the
Consumer
Include
Celebrity
Endorsers
Appeal to
Hedonic Needs
Increasing
Consumers’
Attention
Use Prominent
Stimuli
Use Novel
Stimuli
4-11
Values
4-12
A belief that some condition is preferable to its
opposite.
 Every culture has a set of values that it imparts
to its members called Core Values.
 The process of learning the beliefs and
behaviors endorsed by one’s own culture is
Enculturation.
 Acculturation is the process of learning the
value system and behaviors of another culture.

4-13
American Core Values
Individualism
 Freedom
 Efficiency and Practicality
 Humanitarianism
 Youthfulness
 Fitness and Health
 Material Comfort

Applications of Values to
Consumer Behavior

4-14
Research has tended to classify values as
being:
– Cultural such as security or happiness,
– Consumption-specific such as convenient
shopping or prompt service,
– Product-specific such as ease of use or durability.

The Rokeach Value Survey identified:
– Terminal Values - desired end-states that apply to
many cultures,
– Instrumental Values - composed of actions needed
to achieve these terminal values.
4-15
Applications of Values to
Consumer Behavior
List of Values (LOV)
Identifies Nine Consumer Segments Based on Values They Endorse
Means-End Chain Model
Message
Elements
Consumer
Benefit
Executional
Framework
Leverage
Point
Syndicated Surveys - VALS 2
http://future.sri.com/VALS/VALSindex.shtml
Driving
Force
Means-End Chain Model


Suggests that consumers define product attributes
in personal, subjective terms – “What does this
attribute do for me?”
In other words, consumers see a product attribute
as a means to some end, which could be a
consequence or a value.
– That is, consumers create knowledge structures of
linked meanings that connect tangible product attributes
to more abstract attributes and consequences, which in
turn are associated with more subjective, self-relevant
values and goals.
4-16
4-17
Means-End Chain Model
Attributes
Concrete
Abstract
Consequences
Functional
Psychosocial
Values
Instrumental
Terminal
4-18
Example of Means-End Chain
Model
Concrete
Hair
Spray
Pump
Dispenser
Abstract
Light
Mist
Functional
Hair Not
Sticky
Psychosocial Instrumental
Feel More
Attractive
Impress
Others
Terminal
Self
Esteem
(Product class level)
Scope
Mouth
Wash
(Brand level)
Fluoride
Avoid
Bad Breath
Feel Confident
In Social Situation
Perform
Better
Social
Recognition
Materialism
4-19
Materialism refers to the importance people
attach to worldly possessions.
 America is a highly materialistic society.

– 40% of all U.S. households have two or more cars,
– Over $200 billion is spent on vacations in a year
Materialists are more likely to value possessions
for their status and appearance-related
meanings.
 However, there are signs that many Americans
are developing a different value system that
balances work with personal relationships.
