CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR, 10e
Michael R. Solomon

CHAPTER 4
MOTIVATION AND GLOBAL
VALUES
 When you finish this chapter, you should understand
why:
1. It’s important for marketers to recognize that
products can satisfy a range of consumer needs.
2. The way we evaluate and choose a product
depends upon our degree of involvement with
the product, the marketing message, and/or the
purchase situation.
3. Our deeply held cultural values dictate the types
of products and services we seek out or avoid.
LEARNING 4. Consumers vary in the importance they attach
OBJECTIVES to worldly possessions, and this orientation in
turn has an impact on their priorities and
behaviors.
5. Products that succeed in one culture may fail in
another if marketers fail to understand the
differences among consumers in each place.
6. Western cultures have a huge impact around the
world, although people in other countries don’t
necessarily ascribe the same meanings to
products we do.
 O B J E C T I V E 1 : P RO D U C T S A R E
D E V E L O P E D TO S AT I S F Y A
RANGE OF CONSUMER NEEDS

• Marketers try to satisfy consumer

needs.
• Reasons vary widely
• Identifying motives is an important
step to ensure that products will
satisfy appropriate needs.
• something that causes a person to act in
a certain way, do a certain thing

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 MOT I VATI ON – W H Y
CUSTOME R S DO
W H AT T H E Y DO?

• Motivation - processes that lead

people to behave as they do.
• Occurs when a need is aroused
that the consumer wishes to
satisfy.
• Motivation can be described in
terms of:
• Its strength (the pull it exerts on
the consumer)
• Its direction (the way particular
a consumer attempts to reduce
it/tension)
 Hungry
Once a need arises, it Thirsty
creates a state of Eat healthy
tension driving the Exercise
consumer to eliminate Look pretty
or reduce it Feel secure

Utilitarian—rational - a desire to
achieve some functional or practical
WHAT IS A benefit. (loading up on veggies to stay
NEED? healthy, buying an electric car because
of a long commute)

Hedonic—an experiential need,

involving emotional responses or
fantasies. (desire to skydive, change
hair color, eat a juicy streak)
 JOB OF THE MARKETER TO…

• Try to create products and services to

provide the desired benefits and help the
consumer to reduce this tension between a
desired state and an actual state.
• Whether the need is utilitarian or hedonic,
the magnitude of the tension it creates
determines the urgency the consumer feels
to reduce it.
• We call this degree of arousal a drive.
• We can satisfy a basic need in any number
of ways, and the specific path a person
chooses is influenced both by her unique
set of experiences and by the values his
or her culture instills.
• Tension – difference between desired state and actual
state.

• Drive - The magnitude of tension a need creates,

which determines the urgency the consumer feels to
reduce it.
TENSION – UNPLEASANT STATE OF
A HEADACHE

DRIVE – URGENCY THE CUSTOMER

FEELS TO REDUCE THE TENSION
 C ASPER
MATTRESS

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 GOAL
MARKETERS • Desired end
state
CREATE
PRODUCTS TO
CREATES A
REDUCE
STATE OF TENSION
TENSION
• Provide benefits to
NEED • Drive = magnitude of get consumer to
ARISES the tension the desired state
• Utilitarian
• Hedonic

Strength – Pull exerts on

Motivation – process customer takes to satisfy the need customer
Direction – way customer
reduces tension
 WHAT DO WE NEED VS. WANT?

Biogenic Needs
(need for certain elements to maintain life: food, air, water, shelter)

Psychogenic Needs
(status, power, affiliation, cultural acceptance)

Utilitarian Needs
(objective, tangible attributes of a product: – fat, calories, miles per
gallon, % salt, buying more when we run out)

Hedonic Needs
(subjective, experiential: excitement, self confidence, fantasy)
 HOW DO WE CLASSIFY
CONSUMER NEEDS

• Psychologist Henry Murray suggests a

large % purchases are made to satisfy
psychogenic needs.
• He developed a classification of
twenty psychogenic needs:
• Psychogenic needs include needs
for status, power, and affiliation, and
reflect the priorities of a culture
• Function mostly on the
unconscious level but play a
major role in our personality.
 1. Ambition Needs
• Need for achievement - expressed by succeeding, achieving goals and
overcoming obstacles
MURRAY LIST OF • Need for recognition - gaining social status and displaying achievements
PSYCHOGENIC 2. Materialistic Needs
NEEDS • Center on acquisition, construction, order and retention.
• These needs often involve obtaining items, such as buying material objects
that we desire. In other instances, these needs compel us to create new
things.
3. Power Needs
• Center on our own independence as well as our need to control others.

According to Murray, all • Other key power needs include aggression (attacking or ridiculing others),
blame avoidance (following the rules and avoiding blame), deference
(obeying and cooperating with others) and dominance (controlling others).
people have these needs,
4. Affection Needs
but each individual tends
• Centered on our desire to love and be loved.
to have a certain level of
• Need for affiliation and seek out the company of other people.
each need. • Nurturing and taking care of others but at the same time be protected by
others.

Each person's unique • Center on building relationships, playing and having fun and connections,
5. Information Needs
levels of needs plays a
• Center around both gaining knowledge and sharing it with others.
role in shaping his or her
• According to Murray, people have an innate need to learn more about the
individual personality. world around them.
• Exposition, or the desire to share what they have learned with other
people.
 THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
(TAT)

• 1930 - The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a projective psychological test.

Historically, it has been among the most widely researched, taught, and used of
such tests.
• It asserts that the TAT taps a subject's unconscious to reveal repressed aspects
of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy,
and problem-solving abilities.

• The TAT is popularly known as the picture interpretation technique because

it uses a standard series of provocative yet ambiguous pictures about which the
subject is asked to tell a story. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as
they can for each picture presented, including:
• what has led up to the event shown
• what is happening at the moment
• what the characters are feeling and thinking
• what the outcome of the story was
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 T H E M AT I C
APPERCEPTION TEST
( TAT ) –
P RO J E C T I V E
PSYCHOLOGICAL
T E S T.

1. what has led up to

the event shown
2. what is happening at
the moment
3. what the characters
are feeling and
thinking
4. what the outcome of
the story was
 Need for achievement - value personal
accomplishment (she is leading the experiment
and coming up with the lab results)

Need for affiliation – want to be in the company

of other people. (she is collaborating with her
partner)
BASED ON THE
ANSWERS, HE
COULD TELL IF AN
INDIVIDUAL
VA L U E S : Need for power – control their environment
(she is showing the other how to do the
experiment and to just watch)

Need for uniqueness – assert individual identities

(she want to do it on her own, her own way)
1. What is
happening
2. What led up to
this situation
3. What is being
taught
4. What will
happen?
• Murray found that subjects clearly
projected their own personal, emotional,
and psychological existence into their
stories
 MOST OF PURCHASES ARE TO SATISFY
PSYCHOGENIC NEEDS
Marketers must understand what need their product fulfills.

NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT NEED FOR AFFILIATION

Value personal accomplishment Want to be with other people
Products that show success Focus on products that are used in
Place a premium on products that signify groups (alcoholic beverages, bars,
success (luxury brands, technology clubs, sporting events, concerts)
products, expensive cars, boats, jewelry)

NEED FOR POWER NEED FOR UNIQUENESS

Control one’s environment Assert one’s individual identity
Focus on products that allow Enjoy products that focus on their
them to have mastery over unique character & seek
surroundings (alarms, lessons, products that bring out
storage backup, generators) distinctive qualities (perfumes,
clothing, jewelry, piercings)
 NEED FOR
INDIVIDUALISM

26
 ABRAHAM MASLOW

• Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Needs suggests the order of
development in a hierarchy of
biogenic and psychogenic needs is
fixed – we need to attain a level
before we activate the need for the
next level.
• At each level, the person seeks
different product benefits.
LEVELS OF NEEDS EXIST:
MASLOW HIERARCHY

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 OB J E CT IV E 2 : CUSTOME R
I NVOLV E MENT

• The way we evaluate and choose

a product depends upon our
degree of involvement with the
product, the marketing message,
and/or the purchase situation.
 PRODUCT INVOLVEMENT

• Low – purchase decisions

made out of habit (inertia)
• High – Consumers form
very strong bonds with
Involvement what they buy (decisions
can range: made passionately)
 H I G H I NVOLV E ME NT
P UR CH ASE S

• High-involvement decisions carry a

higher risk to buyers if they fail, are
complex, and/or have high price tags.
• Can cause buyers a great deal of
postpurchase dissonance (anxiety)
• When consumers are unsure
about their purchases or if they
had a difficult time deciding
between two alternatives.
• Marketers will offer consumers a lot
of information about their products,
including why they are superior to
competing brands and how they
won’t let the consumer down.
• Salespeople may be utilized to
answer questions and do a lot of
customer “hand-holding.”
 HIGH INVOLVEMENT
SITUATIONS
• Consumers enter a Flow state

• Occurs when consumers are truly involved (website, ad, product)

• Mental state of flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.
The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows
inevitably from the previous one. Your whole being is involved, and you're using
your skills to the utmost."

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO EXPERIENCE A FLOW STATE?

• Clear goals that, while challenging, are still attainable
• Strong concentration and focused attention
• The activity is intrinsically rewarding
• Feelings of serenity; a loss of feelings of self-consciousness
• Timelessness; a distorted sense of time; feeling so focused on the present that you
lose track of time passing
• Immediate feedback
• Knowing that the task is doable; a balance between skill level and the challenge
presented
• Feelings of personal control over the situation and the outcome
• Lack of awareness of physical needs
• Complete focus on the activity itself
 CULT PRODUCTS

• Cult products command fierce consumer loyalty,

devotion, even worship.
• A Cult brand is a product or service with a committed
customer base. The attainment of such true believers or
'near fanatical' customers is made possible because cult
brands sell more than a product, they sell a lifestyle.
 1. Sriracha 10. Vans
2. Costco 11. Ikea
CULT
3. Krispy 12. Oprah
PRODUCT S
Kreme
SO
POPUL AR 4. Keihles
THEY
5. Spanx
DON’ T
NE E D TO 6. Lululemon
ADV E RT I SE 7. Rolls Royce
8. Zara
9. La Croix

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/brands
-with-cult-following
 MAR K E T ER S USE DI FFE R ENT
T E CH NI QUES TO I NCR E ASE MOT I VATI ON
TO P ROCE SS I NFOR MATI ON:

• Appeal to hedonic needs (sensory appeals)

• Use novel stimuli (unusual cinematography, sudden
silences, unexpected movements)
• Use prominent stimuli (loud music, fast action)
• Include celebrity endorsers
• Provide value customers appreciate
• Let customers make the messages (consumer-generated
content can improve message-response involvement)
• Invent new media platforms to grab consumer attention
• Create spectacles (performances) where the message is
a form of entertainment.
 MARKETERS TRY TO TIE A BRAND
TO AN INDIVIDUAL – ENHANCE
INVOLVEMENT

• The more closely marketers can

tie a brand to an individual, the
higher the involvement they will
create.
• Powerful when consumers
participate in creating the brand
• Mass customization – personalization
of products and services
 4 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE
BUYING DECISION OF CUSTOMERS

• Why do consumers purchase something?

• Are these just random choices or based on certain factors?
• Although we may not do it intentionally, but while making a buying decision,
we are influenced by a number of cultural and social factors
• What do you look for when you buy something?
• What are the ‘things’ that urge you to get that perfect bag or the gorgeous
pair of shoes?
• As a consumer, there are many factors that affect our purchasing decisions.
• Most people are conditioned a certain way to choose from millions of
alternative products and make alternate purchasing decisions.
• We may not know it, but the factors that influence buying decisions help the
consumers in recognizing needs and finding ways to solve these needs.
• The decision processes and acts involved in buying and using products is
known as buying behavior, or the buying decision of the consumers.
• The factors that affect these decisions may be different for each individual.
 OBJECTIVE 3: CORE VALUES PLAY A ROLE IN
PRODUCTS WE PURCHASE

• Our deeply held cultural values dictate the types of

products and services we buy or avoid. (freedom,
democracy, upward mobility, work hard, all treated
equally)
• Underlying values often drive consumer motivations
• Products take on meaning because a person thinks they will
help them to achieve some goal that is linked to a value
• freedom
• youthfulness
• achievement
• materialism
CULTURAL FACTORS

Culture is one of the key factors that influences a

consumer’s buying decisions. These factors refer
to the set of values, preferences, perceptions, and
ideologies of a particular community. At an early
age, buyers learn to recognize acceptable
behavior and choices when selecting products.

For example, it is our culture that teaches us that,

as a buyer, we need to make payments and honor
contracts, pay on time, observe rules, and
assume responsibility when seeking information.
Sometimes ‘cultural shifts’, due to the influence of
different cultures indicate the need to introduce
new products.

Each culture is further divided into various

subcultures based on age, geographical location,
religion, gender (male/female), etc.
 AMERIC AN CORE VALUES

• Equal Opportunity
• Achievement and Success
• Material Comfort
• Activity and Work
• Practicality and Efficiency
• Progress
• Science
• Democracy and Enterprise
• Freedom
https://study.com/academy/lesson/influenc
es-on-consumer-buying-decisions-cultures-
values-more.html

CORE VALUES
CORE VALUES

• It is usually possible to identify a general set of

core values that unique define a culture. Core
values such as freedom, youthfulness,
achievement, materialism, and activity
characterize American culture.
• Enculturation: learning the beliefs and values
of one’s own culture
• Acculturation: learning the value system and
behaviors of another culture
• Socialization agents- parents, friends, and
teachers, impart these beliefs to us.
• Even the media help us to learn about a culture’s
priorities.
 OBJECTIVES 4:
MATERIALISM

• Consumers vary in the importance

they attach to worldly possessions,
and this orientation in turn has an
impact on their priorities and
behaviors.
• Materialism – the importance people
attach to worldly possessions
• Value shift toward environmentally
sustainable products and services
 MATERIALISM

• Materialists: value possessions for

their own status and appearance
• Non-materialists: value possessions
that connect them to other people or
provide them with pleasure in using
them
 CONSCIENTIOUS
CONSUMERISM –
NEW TREND

• Conscientious
consumerism is a focus
on personal health
merging with a growing
interest in global health
• LOHAS (lifestyles of
health and
sustainability)
• Worry about the
environment
• Want products to be
produced in a
sustainable way
 OBJECTIVE 6: IMPACT OF
WESTERN CULTURE

• Western cultures have a huge impact around the

world, although people in other countries don’t
necessarily ascribe the same meanings to products
we do.
• Western culture is also called European civilization,
Western civilization or Western lifestyle.
• It is based on certain belief systems, traditional
customs moral and ethical values.
• “The American culture promotes personal
responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of
education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose
greater than self, and at the foundation, the pre-
eminence of family. “ -Mitt Romney

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Products that succeed in one Learn as much as possible about differences in culture
culture, may fail in another norms and preferences

Emic – believers – individual cultures are unique and

Extent to tailor marketing need own strategy, message, creative, etc.

strategy by culture Etic – believers – individuals in different cultures

appreciate the same universal message

MARKETERS MUST
UNDERSTAND…
 CHAPTER SUMMARY

• Products address a wide range of consumer needs.

• How we evaluate a product depends on our involvement
with that product, the marketing message, and the purchase
situation.
• Our cultural values dictate the products we seek out and
avoid.
• Consumers vary in how important possessions are to
them.

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