Chapter 4 Motivation and Values By Michael R. Solomon Consumer Behavior Buying, Having, and Being Sixth Edition 4-1 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: Provides a functional or practical benefit • Hedonic need: An experiential need involving emotional responses or fantasies • Goal: – The end state that is desired by the consumer. 4-2 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 4-3 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. 4-4 Motivational Direction • Needs Versus Wants: – Want: The particular form of consumption used to satisfy a need. • 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.) 4-5 Instant Gratification of Needs • We expect today’s technical products to satisfy our needs – instantly. 4-6 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. (product bundling) • Approach-Avoidance Conflict: – Exists when consumers desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same time. (weight maintainance) • Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict: – Consumers face a choice between two undesirable alternatives. (buy new tv vs. get it fixed) 4-7 Solutions to Approach-Avoidance Conflict 4-8 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 (p. 123)? – Distinct differences regarding the conceptualization of paradise between American and Dutch college students 4-9 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 4 - 10 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Figure 4.2 4 - 11 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. 4 - 12 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) 4 - 13 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 (sound, color) • Elaboration: Incoming information is linked to preexisting knowledge (ads for ski excursions) 4 - 14 Conceptualizing Involvement Figure 4.3 4 - 15 Increasing Involvement through Ads • The Swiss Potato Board is trying to increase involvement with its product. The ad reads, “Recipes against boredom.” 4 - 16 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 • Harley Davidson 4 - 17 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 4 - 18 Emotions versus Cognitions • Many marketing messages, such as this ad for a cosmetic company in Taiwan, focus on emotions rather than cognitions. 4 - 19 Customizing for Product Involvement 4 - 20 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 4 - 21 High Involvement 4 - 22 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 4 - 23 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 (i.e., parents, friends, and teachers) 4 - 24 Core Values • Cleanliness is a core value in many cultures. 4 - 25 Application of Values to Consumer Behavior • Useful distinctions in values for consumer behavior research – Cultural Values (e.g. security or happiness) – Consumption-Specific Values (e.g. convenient shopping or prompt service) – Product-Specific Values (e.g. ease-of-use or durability) • Virtually all consumer research is ultimately related to identification and measurement of values. 4 - 26 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. 4 - 27 Measuring Cultural Values • The Rokeach Value Survey – Terminal Values: Desired end states – Instrumental Values: Actions needed to achieve terminal values • 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 4 - 28 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 - 29 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 4 - 30 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 4 - 31 Values of Materialists • Materialists value visible symbols of success such as expensive watches. 4 - 32 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 antimaterialistic? 4 - 33 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. 4 - 34