Chapter 4

Motivation and Values

By Michael R. Solomon Consumer Behavior Buying, Having, and Being Sixth Edition

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Opening Vignette: Paula

• • • • What are Paula’s motivations for being a vegetarian?

How is vegetarianism being promoted and who is promoting it?

How is the beef industry responding to this movement toward a meatless diet?

How are values influencing individuals’ choices in consumption?

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The Motivation Process

• •

Motivation:

– The processes that lead people to behave as they do. It occurs when a need arises that a consumer wishes to satisfy.

•

Utilitarian need:

benefit Provides a functional or practical •

Hedonic need:

An experiential need involving emotional responses or fantasies

Goal:

– The end state that is desired by the consumer.

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The Motivation Process

• • •

Drive:

– The degree of arousal present due to a discrepancy between the consumer’s present state and some ideal state

Want:

– A manifestation of a need created by personal and cultural factors.

Motivation can be described in terms of:

– –

Strength:

The pull it exerts on the consumer

Direction:

The particular way the consumer attempts to reduce motivational tension

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Ads Reinforce Desired States

• This ad for exercise shows men a desired state (as dictated by contemporary Western culture), and suggests a solution (purchase of equipment) to attain it.

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Motivational Strength

• • •

Biological vs. Learned Needs:

– –

Instinct:

Innate patterns of behavior universal in a species

Tautology:

Circular explanation (e.g. instinct is inferred from the behavior it is supposed to explain)

Drive Theory:

– Biological needs produce unpleasant states of arousal. We are motivated to reduce tension caused by this arousal.

–

Homeostasis:

A balanced state of arousal

Expectancy Theory:

– Behavior is pulled by expectations of achieving desirable outcomes – positive incentives – rather than pushed from within

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Motivational Direction

• •

Needs Versus Wants:

–

Want:

need.

The particular form of consumption used to satisfy a

Types of Needs

– –

Biogenic needs:

Needs necessary to maintain life

Psychogenic needs:

Culture-related needs (e.g. need for status, power, affiliation, etc.) –

Utilitarian needs:

Implies that consumers will emphasize the objective, tangible aspects of products –

Hedonic needs:

Subjective and experiential needs (e.g. excitement, self-confidence, fantasy, etc.)

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Instant Gratification of Needs

• We expect today’s technical products to satisfy our needs – instantly.

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Motivational Conflicts

• • •

Approach-Approach Conflict:

– – A person must choose between two desirable alternatives.

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance:

A state of tension occurs when beliefs or behaviors conflict with one another.

•

Cognitive Dissonance Reduction: Process by which people are motivated to reduce tension between beliefs or behaviors.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict:

– Exists when consumers desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same time.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict:

– Consumers face a choice between two undesirable alternatives.

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Three Types of Motivational Conflicts

Figure 4.1

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Solutions to Approach-Avoidance Conflict

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Discussion Question

• • Do sporting events, such as a college football game, satisfy

utilitarian hedonic needs

? Which or specific needs do they address?

Give some other examples of utilitarian and hedonic needs.

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Negative Consequences

• The Partnership for a Drug-Free America points out the negative consequences of drug addiction for those who are tempted to start.

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Classifying Consumer Needs

• •

Henry Murray need dimensions:

– – –

Autonomy:

Being independent

Defendance:

Defending the self against criticism

Play:

Engaging in pleasurable activities

Thematic Apperception Technique (TAT):

– (1) What is happening?

– (2) What led up to this situation?

– – (3) What is being thought?

(4) What will happen?

– People freely project their subconscious needs onto the stimulus

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Classifying Consumer Needs (cont.)

• • •

Specific Needs and Buying Behavior:

– – – –

Need for achievement:

To attain personal accomplishment

Need for affiliation:

To be in the company of others

Need for power:

To control one’s environment

Need for uniqueness:

To assert one’s individual identity

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

– A hierarchy of biogenic and psychogenic needs that specifies certain levels of motives.

Paradise: Satisfying Needs?

– Distinct differences regarding the conceptualization of paradise between American and Dutch college students

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 4.2

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Dutch Conception of Paradise

• A Dutch respondent’s collage emphasizes this person’s conception of paradise as a place where there is interpersonal harmony and concern for the environment.

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Criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy

• • •

The application is too simplistic:

–

It is possible for the same product or activity to satisfy every need.

It is too culture-bound:

– The assumptions of the hierarchy may be restricted to Western culture

It emphasizes individual needs over group needs

– Individuals in some cultures place more value on the welfare of the group (belongingness needs) than the needs of the individual (esteem needs)

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Consumer Involvement

• •

Involvement:

– A person’s perceived relevance of the object based on his/her inherent needs, values, and interests.

•

Object: A product or brand Levels of Involvement: Inertia to Passion

– Type of information processing depends on the consumer’s level of involvement •

Simple processing: Only the basic features of the message are considered

•

Elaboration: Incoming information is linked to preexisting knowledge 4 - 19

Conceptualizing Involvement

Figure 4.3

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Increasing Involvement through Ads

• The Swiss Potato Board is trying to increase involvement with its product. The ad reads, “Recipes against boredom.”

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Consumer Involvement (cont.)

• • • •

Involvement as a Continuum:

– Ranges from disinterest to obsession

Inertia

(Low involvement consumption)

:

– Consumer lacks the motivation to consider alternatives

Flow State

(High involvement consumption)

:

– Consumer is truly involved with the product, ad or web site

Cult Products:

– Command fierce consumer loyalty and perhaps worship by consumers who are highly involved in the product

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Example of a Cult Product

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The Many Faces of Involvement

• • •

Product Involvement:

– Related to a consumer’s level of interest in a particular product

Message-Response Involvement:

–

(a.k.a. advertising involvement)

Refers to a consumer’s interest in processing marketing communications

Purchase Situation Involvement:

– Refers to the differences that may occur when buying the same product for different contexts

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Emotions versus Cognitions

• Many marketing messages, such as this ad for a cosmetic company in Taiwan, focus on emotions rather than cognitions.

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Customizing for Product Involvement

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Measuring Involvement

• •

Teasing out the Dimensions of Involvement:

– –

Involvement Profile:

• •

Personal interest in a product category Risk importance

• • •

Probability of making a bad purchase Pleasure value of the product category How closely the product is related to the self

Zaichkowsky’s Personal Involvement Inventory Scale

Segmenting by Involvement Levels:

– Involvement is a useful basis for market segmentation

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High Involvement

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Strategies to Increase Involvement

• • • • •

Appeal to hedonic needs

– e.g. using sensory appeals to generate attention

Use novel stimuli

– e.g. unusual cinematography, sudden silences, etc.

Use prominent stimuli

– e.g. larger ads, more color

Include celebrity endorsers Build a bond with consumers

– Maintain an ongoing relationship with consumers

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Values

• •

Value:

– A belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite (e.g. freedom is better than slavery)

Core Values:

– General set of values that uniquely define a culture •

Value system: A culture’s unique set of rankings of the relative importance of universal values.

–

Enculturation:

•

Process of learning the value systems of one’s own culture

–

Acculturation:

•

Process of learning the value system of another culture

– Cultural beliefs are taught by

socialization agents

parents, friends, and teachers) (i.e.,

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Core Values

• Cleanliness is a core value in many cultures.

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Application of Values to Consumer Behavior

• •

Useful distinctions in values for consumer behavior research

–

Cultural Values

(e.g. security or happiness) –

Consumption-Specific Values

shopping or prompt service) (e.g. convenient –

Product-Specific Values

durability) (e.g. ease-of-use or

Virtually all consumer research is ultimately related to identification and measurement of values.

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Emotions versus Cognitions

• The positive value we place on the activities of large corporations is changing among some consumers who prefer to go “anticorporate.” This ad for a coffee shop in Boulder, Colorado reflects that sentiment.

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Measuring Cultural Values

• •

The Rokeach Value Survey

–

Terminal Values:

Desired end states –

Instrumental Values:

terminal values Actions needed to achieve

The List of Values (LOV) Scale

– Developed to isolate values with more direct marketing applications – Identifies nine (9) consumer segments based on the values they endorse – Relates each value to differences in consumption

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The Means-End Chain Model

• • •

Laddering:

– A technique that uncovers consumers’ associations between attributes and consequences

Hierarchical value maps:

– Show how product attributes are linked to desired end states

Means-End Conceptualization of the Components of Advertising Strategy (MECCAS):

•

Message Elements

•

Consumer Benefits

•

Executional Framework

•

Leverage Point

•

Driving Force 4 - 35

Syndicated Surveys

• • •

Large-scale commercial surveys

Voluntary simplifiers:

– Believe that once basic needs are sated, additional income does not add to happiness.

Examples:

– – – – VALS 2 GlobalScan New Wave Lifestyles Study

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Materialism

•

Materialism:

– The importance people attach to worldly possessions – Tends to emphasize the well-being of the individual versus the group – People with highly material values tend to be less happy – America is a highly materialistic society – There are a number of anti-materialism movements

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Values of Materialists

• Materialists value visible symbols of success such as expensive watches.

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Discussion Question

• • Materialists are more likely to consume for status. Can you think of products and brands that convey status?

There is a movement away from materialism in our culture. Can you think of products, ads, or brands that are anti materialistic?

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Consumer Behavior in the Aftermath of 9/11

• Following 9/11, ads addressed people’s fears in various ways. This ad was created as part of the Advertising Community Together initiative.

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