Chapter 7
Motivation
Motivation and Emotion
and Emotion
What Is Motivation?
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The driving force within individuals that
impels them to action
It is produced by a state of arousal or tension,
which exists as the result of an unfulfilled
need
Individuals strive consciously and
subconsciously to reduce the tension through
behavior they anticipate will fulfill their needs
and thus relieve of the stress they feel
Implications for marketers
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Ads and promotions are aimed at stimulating
the state of tension
To be successful, ads have to also provide
direction to the advertised brand
Classifying Consumer Motivations
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2.
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4.
5.
Researchers put motivation into five
categories:
Conscious vs. Unconscious
High vs. Low Urgency
Positive vs. Negative Polarity
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic
Rational vs. Emotional
1. Conscious vs. unconscious
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Conscious motives are motives we are aware
of, the reasons for our behavior are clear, and
these motives do not need to be aroused
Sometimes we are unaware of the reason
why a particular behavior was undertaken;
our motivation is unconscious
2. High vs. low urgency
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High urgency needs must be satisfied
immediately and may make comparison
shopping impossible
Low urgency needs can be postponed and
enable consumers to shop for the best
product at the best price
3. Positive and negative motivation
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Positive motivation drives consumers
toward some object or condition
Negative motivation (e.g., fear/guilt) drives
consumers away from a consequence
4. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic
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Intrinsic motivation is engaging in behavior
for the pleasure of the behavior itself; the
behavior is the reward
Extrinsic motivation is engaging in behavior
for a reward that is independent of the activity
5. Rational v. emotional motives
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Rationality implies consumers select goals based
on totally objective and utilitarian criteria, such as
size, weight, price, miles per gallon, etc.
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Ads that provide factual information are aimed at this
motivation
Emotion implies the selection of goals according to
personal or subjective criteria, such as pride, fear,
affection or status
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Ads that identify products with a particular lifestyle target
emotional motivation
Needs and goals as elements of
motivation
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Every individual has needs
Innate/primary needs are physiological; they
include needs for sustenance (air, food,
water, sex)
Acquired/secondary needs are learned in
response to our culture or environment; they
result from our individual psychological state
and relationships with others
Goals
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All human behavior is goal-oriented
Generic goals are the general classes of
goals that will satisfy human needs
Product-specific goals are the specifically
branded products and services consumers
select as their goals
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1.
2.
3.
The selection of goals depends on a
number of factors related to the person or
situation:
Physical, financial and emotional condition
Cultural values and norms
Social acceptance of the goal
Types and systems of needs
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For many years, psychologists and others
interested in human behavior have attempted
to develop exhaustive lists of human needs
Lists of human motives often are too long to
be of practical use to marketers
The most useful kind of list is a limited one, in
which needs are sufficiently generic to
subsume more detailed human needs
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Some psychologists have suggested that
people have different need priorities based
on their personalities, experiences,
environments, etc.
Others believe that most humans experience
the same basic needs, to which they a assign
a similar priority ranking
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
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Maslow formulated a widely accepted theory
of human motivation based on a universal
hierarchy of needs
Holds that individuals seek to satisfy lowerlevel needs before higher-level needs
emerge
The lowest level of chronically unsatisfied
need serves to motivate behavior
When that need is satisfied, a new and higher
need emerges, and so on…
Five basic needs (in order)
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Physiological needs
Safety needs
Social needs
Egoistic needs
Self-actualization needs
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Some overlap exists between the levels
No need is ever totally satisfied, thus multiple
levels of needs may affect consumers
simultaneously
1. Physiological needs
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The most basic needs, required to sustain
biological life
the same as the primary needs listed earlier
(food, water, air, shelter, clothing, sex)
Physiological needs are dominant when they
are chronically unsatisfied
2. Safety needs
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After the first needs are met, safety and
security become the driving force behind
behavior
Involve much more than physical safety:
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Order
Stability
Routine
Familiarity
Control over one’s life and environment
3. Social needs
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Include love, affection, belonging and
acceptance
People seek warm and satisfying human
relationships with others and are motivated
by love for their families
4. Egoistic needs
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Inwardly-directed ego needs reflect an
individual’s need for self-acceptance, selfesteem, success, independence, personal
satisfaction with a job well done
Outwardly-directed ego needs include
needs for prestige, reputation, status and
recognition from others
5. Self-actualization
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Maslow: most people never fully satisfy ego
needs; thus don’t reach this level
Refers to person’s desire to fulfill potential
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Actualization
(Self-fulfillment)
Ego Needs
(Prestige, status, self esteem)
Social Needs
(affection, friendship, belonging)
Safety and Security Needs
(Protection, order, stability)
Physiological Needs
(Food, water, air, shelter, sex)
Implications for Marketers
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Consumer goods often serve to satisfy each
of the need levels
Enables marketers to focus appeals on a
need level shared by a large segment of the
population
Segmentation applications
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Specific advertising appeals are directed to
one or more need-segment levels
Positioning applications
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Key to positioning is to find a niche—an
unsatisfied need that is not occupied by a
competing product or brand
Maslow postulated that no need is ever fully
satisfied
Thus needs will always be a motivating force
Marketers can identify an unsatisfied need
which their competition appears not to be
meeting
Social motivation theories
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2.
3.
Some psychologists have identified a trio of
needs that, while subsumed within Maslow’s
hierarchy, considered individually have
unique relevance to consumer behavior
Power
Affiliation
achievement
1. Power
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Relates to an individual’s desire to control his
or her environment
Closely related to the ego need in that many
individuals experience increased self-esteem
when they exercise power over objects or
people
2. Affiliation
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Suggests that behavior is strongly influenced
by desire for friendship, acceptance and
belonging
People with high affiliation needs tend to be
socially dependent on others
They often select goods they believe will
meet with the approval of peers
3. Achievement
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Persons with strong need for achievement
often regard personal accomplishment as an
end in itself
Tend to be more self-confident, enjoy taking
calculated risks, actively research their
environments, and value feedback
Monetary rewards provide an important type
of feedback
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Seek activities that provide the opportunity for
self-evaluation
Products that appeal to them include
innovative products and do-it-yourself
projects
Individuals who have achieved success in
highly challenging activities (e.g., ocean
yacht racing, mountaineering) are appealing
as endorsers of products
Motivational conflict
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Occurs when multiple needs arise and
fulfilling one goal conflicts with another
The end result is frustration
Conflict can involve both positive and
negative motivation
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1.
2.
3.
Lewin identified three types of motivational
conflict:
Approach-approach conflicts
Avoidance-avoidance conflicts
Approach-avoidance conflicts
1. Approach-approach conflicts
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Arise when consumers face a choice among
desirable option—i.e., two positive goals or
motivations
the more equal the positives, the greater the
conflict
Marketers can use tactics designed to ease
the conflict by making one option more
attractive or creating conditions where
consumers can have both
2. Avoidance-avoidance conflicts
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Arise when consumers must choose between
two options with unfavorable consequences
Marketers seek ways to minimize the
negative aspects of purchasing their product
Marketers may also emphasize the negatives
related to avoiding the purchase of the
product
3. Approach-avoidance conflicts
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Most typical conflict because every purchase
requires parting with something (time, money,
energy, risk)
Consumers only purchase products when
they believe the benefits outweigh the costs
It is the job of marketers to convince
consumers that their product’s value exceeds
its costs
Emotions
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Recall that motives can be rational or
emotional
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Love, fear, anger, envy, loneliness, sorrow
These emotions influence our behavior
In recognition, marketers use emotions to
sell products
How emotional ads work
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Emotional ads trigger physiological and
psychological reactions
Marketers use the emotions aroused by the
ad to create a bond between the consumer
and the product
Marketers can then activate the need for the
product by stirring the relevant emotion