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Consumer Motivation
CHAPTER 8
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Consumer Motivation
Represents the drive to satisfy both physiological and psychological needs through product purchase and consumption
Gives insights into why people buy certain products
Stems from consumer needs: industries have been built around basic human needs
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Types of Consumer Needs
Physiological Needs
• Fundamental human needs, including food, water, and sleep
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Types of Consumer Needs
Safety and Health Needs
• Threats to our safety and health motivate purchases for personal security and protection
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Types of Consumer Needs
Safety and Health Needs
• Protecting our personal information and computers represents new types of
safety needs
• Businesses provide a variety of products and services to appeal to safety and health conscious consumers
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Safety and Health Needs
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Love and Companionship
• Humans are social creatures who need to experience and
express love and companionship
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Love and Companionship
• Services and products help individuals find and attract others
• Products are often used as symbols of love and caring
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Love and Companionship
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Financial Resources and Security
A need that includes others important to the individual
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Types of Consumer Needs
Social Image Needs
Conspicuous consumption:
• Purchases motivated to some extent by the desire to show other people how successful they are
• Companies reinforce the notion that products enable users to communicate their social image
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Social Image Needs
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Pleasure
• Products, services, and consumption activities provide fun and excitement
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Consumers’ Need for Pleasure
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need to Possess
Consumers often acquire products simply because of their need to own such products— e.g., collectors
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Consumers’ Need to Possess
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need to Possess
Plays a role in impulse buying:
•where consumers unexpectedly experience a sudden and powerful urge to buy something immediately
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need to Give
• Give something back to others or reward ourselves
• Self-gifts let us motivate, reward, and console ourselves
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Information
• One reason we read or watch TV
• Fuels Internet usage
• Plays an important role in persuasion—
if an ad appears when consumers need information, they are more likely to pay attention than when they don’t need the information
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Types of Consumer Needs
Need for Variety
Marketers may introduce different versions of original brand
Variety may become focus of product positioning
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Motivational Conflict and Need Priorities
Satisfying a need often comes at the expense of another need—these trade-offs cause motivational conflict
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Types of Motivational Conflict
Approach-approach: deciding between two or more desirable options
Avoidance-avoidance: deciding between two or more undesirable options
Approach-avoidance: behavior has both positive and negative consequences
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Motivational Conflict and Need Priorities
Resolving motivational conflicts requires prioritizing needs
Maslow’s hierarchy
• Some needs take precedence over other needs - physiological needs take top priority
Differences in the importance attached to various needs affects how consumers evaluate products
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Motivational Conflict and Need Priorities
Because of consumers’ different motivational priorities, companies use benefit segmentation: dividing consumers into different market segments based on benefits they seek from purchase and consumption
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Motivational Intensity
Motivational intensity: how strongly consumers are motivated to satisfy a particular need
Depends on need’s importance
Involvement: degree to which an object or behavior is personally relevant
Motivational intensity and involve-ment determine amount of effort consumers exert in satisfying needs
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The Challenge of Understanding Consumer MotivationReasons underlying consumer motivation are not always “obvious”
Research is necessary to discover real motivations behind behaviors
People don’t always want to disclose real reasons for their actions
People don’t always know why they do what they do—unconscious motivation
Motivations change over time
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Unconscious Motivation
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Motivating Consumers
Motivating with MoneyPrice cuts, specials, rebates, and coupons motivate purchase
Resulting sales may increase, but profits may not
Attracts consumers less likely to repeat
Price reductions may increase price sensitivity
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Motivating Consumers
Motivating with Money
Price cuts, specials, rebates, and coupons motivate purchase
Resulting sales may increase, but profits may not
Attracts consumers less likely to repeat
Price reductions may increase price sensitivity
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Motivating with Money
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Motivating Consumers
Provide Other Incentives
Premiums, free products, contests, and sweepstakes are designed to motivate consumers to purchase
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Motivating with Other Incentives