Chapter 4

Motivation and Values

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR, 8e
Michael Solomon

Learning Objectives
When you finish this chapter you should understand
why:
Its important for marketers to recognize that
products can satisfy a range of consumer needs.
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.
Our deeply held cultural values dictate the types of
products and services we seek out or avoid.
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Learning Objectives (cont.)

Consumers vary in the importance they attach to
worldly possessions, and this orientation in turn has
an impact on their priorities and behaviors.

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The Motivation Process

Motivation: process that leads
people to behave as they do
Also, the forces that drive us
to buy/use products
Goal: consumers desired end
state
Drive: degree of consumer
arousal
Want: manifestation of consumer
need

The ad shows desired state

and suggests solution
(purchase of equipment)
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The Motivation Process

Need creates tension
Tension creates drive to reduce/eliminate need
Desired end state = consumers goal
Products/services provide desired end state and reduce
tension

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Motivational Strength
Motivational strength: degree of willingness to expend
energy to reach a goal
Drive theory: biological needs that produce
unpleasant states of arousal (e.g., hunger)
Expectancy theory: behavior is pulled by
expectations of achieving desirable outcomes

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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
We learn to repeat behavior that reduce tension.
remember???

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Expectancy Theory
Focuses on cognitive factors.
Behavior is pulled by expectations of achieving desirable
outcomes positive incentives rather than pushed from
within

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Types of Needs
Types of needs:

Biogenic: biological needs, such as for air, water,

food

Psychogenic: need for status, power, affiliation

Utilitarian: need for tangible attributes of a product,

such as miles per gallon in a car or calories in a
cheeseburger

Hedonic: needs for excitement, self-confidence,

fantasy

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Motivational Conflicts
Goal valence (value): consumer will:
Approach positive goal
Avoid negative goal

Example: Deodorant & mouthwash

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Motivational Conflicts
Approach-Approach Conflict:
A person must choose between two desirable alternatives
(two CDs).
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.
Guilt of desire occurs

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict:
Consumers face a choice between two undesirable
alternatives.
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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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Three Types of Motivational Conflicts

Two desirable alternatives
Cognitive dissonance

Positive & negative aspects

of desired product
Guilt of desire occurs

Facing a choice with two

undesirable alternatives
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Figure 4.1

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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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In the TAT, the test subject (the boy shown here) examines a set of cards that portray human
figures in a variety of settings and situations, and is asked to tell a story about each card.
The story includes the event shown in the picture, preceding events, emotions and
thoughts of those portrayed, and the outcome of the event shown. The story content and
structure are thought to reveal the subject's attitudes, inner conflicts, and views

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Specific Needs and Buying Behavior

NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT

NEED FOR AFFILIATION

Value personal accomplishment

Want to be with other people

Place a premium on products

that signify success (luxury
brands, technology products)

Focus on products that are used

in groups (going out, food &
beverages, sportsetc)

NEED FOR POWER

NEED FOR UNIQUENESS

Control ones environment

Assert ones individual identity

Focus on products that allow

them to have mastery over
surroundings (muscle cars,
loud boom-boxes)

Enjoy products that focus on

their unique character
(perfumes, clothing)

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Levels of Needs in the Maslow Hierarchy

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Figure 4.2

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Criticisms of Maslows 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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Discussion
Create an advertising slogan for a pair of jeans,
which stresses one of the levels of Maslows
hierarchy of needs.

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Consumer Involvement
Involvement: perceived relevance of an object
based on ones needs, values, and interests

We get attached to products:

All in One restaurant tattoo on consumers head
Lucky magazine for women who obsess over shopping
A man tried to marry his car when fiance dumped him

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Conceptualizing Involvement

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Figure 4.3

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Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to

Passion
Inertia: consumption at the low end of involvement
Decisions made out of habit (lack of motivation)
Ad shows how Swiss potato board tries to increase
product involvement

Cult product: command fierce consumer loyalty,

devotion, and even worship by consumers who
are highly involved

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Product Involvement
Product involvement: consumers level of interest
in a product
Many sales promotions attempt to increase product
involvement
Mass customization enhances product involvement
Nikeid.nike.com

Click image for

www.nikeid.nike.com

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Message-Response Involvement
Vigilante marketing: freelancers and fans film their
own commercials for favorite products
Consumers interest in processing marketing
communications
Marketers experiment with novel ways to increase
consumers involvement, such as games on Web
sites

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Purchase Situation Involvement

Purchase situation involvement: differences that
occur when buying the same object for different
contexts.
Example: wedding gift
For boss: purchase expensive vase to show that you want
to impress boss
For cousin you dont like: purchase inexpensive vase to
show youre indifferent

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Emotions versus Cognitions

Cognitive involvement: spec of

product (computer, car)

Emotional involvement: when

you think of Armani
suit/perfumes/watchesetc

Many marketing messages,

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

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Measuring Involvement: Involvement

Scale
To me (object to be judged) is:
1. important

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

unimportant

2. boring

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

interesting

3. relevant

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

irrelevant

4. exciting

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

unexciting

5. means nothing

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

means a lot

6. appealing

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

unappealing

7. fascinating

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

mundane

8. worthless

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

valuable

9. involving

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

uninvolving

10. not needed

_:_:_:_:_:_:_

needed

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Table 4.1

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Dimensions of Involvement
The amount of consumer involvement depends on:

Personal interest in product category

Risk importance (Social risk, Self image)

Probability of bad purchase

Pleasure value of product category

Sign value of product category (self-concept

relevance)

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Consumer-Generated Content
Consumer-generated content: everyday people voice
their opinions about products, brands, and
companies on blogs, podcasts, and social
networking sites
Examples:
Facebook
MySpace
Youtube

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Strategies to Increase Involvement

Appeal to hedonistic needs

Use novel stimuli in commercials (e.g.

unusual cinematography, sudden silences, etc)

Use prominent stimuli in

commercials (larger ads, more color)

Include celebrity endorsers in

commercials

Build consumer bonds via ongoing

consumer relationships
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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 Values
Value: a belief that some condition is preferable to
its opposite
Example: looking younger is preferable to looking older,
freedom is preferable to slavery.

Products/services = help in attaining value-related

goal
We seek others that share our values/beliefs
Thus, we tend to be exposed to information that supports
our beliefs

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Core Values
Core values: values shared
within a culture
Example: individualism versus
collectivism

Enculturation: learning the

beliefs and values of ones
own culture
Acculturation: learning the
value system and behaviors
of another culture

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Discussion
What do you think are the three to five core values
that best describe JORDANIANS today?
How are these core values relevant to the following
product categories:
Cars?
Clothing?
Higher education?

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Using Values to Explain Consumer

Behavior

Cultures have terminal values, or desired end states

Rokeach Value Survey measures these values

Survey uses instrumental values, actions needed to achieve

these terminal states

Examples:

Instrumental Value

Terminal Value

Ambitious

A comfortable life

Capable

A sense of accomplishment

Self-controlled

Wisdom

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Table 4.3 (abridged)

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Using Values to Explain Consumer

Behavior (cont.)
List of Values (LOV) scale:
Identifies nine consumer segments based on values
they endorse (e.g. sense of belonging, excitement, warm relationship,
securityetc); and
Relates each value to differences in consumption
behaviors.
Example: those who endorse sense of belonging
read Readers Digest and TV Guide, drink and
entertain more, and prefer group activities

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Using Values to Explain Consumer

Behavior (cont.)
Means-End Chain Model assumes:
Very specific product attributes are linked at levels
of increasing abstraction to terminal values
Alternative means to attain valued end states
Laddering technique: uncovers consumers
associations between specific attributes and
general consequences

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Hierarchical Values Maps for Vegetable

Oil in Three Countries

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Figure 4.4

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Using Values to Explain Consumer Behavior

(cont.)
Means-End Conceptualization of the Components of
Advertising Strategy (MECCAS):
Message Elements (specific attributes to depict)
Consumer Benefits (positive consequences)
Executional Framework (overall style and tune)
Leverage Point (the way message will activate terminal by
linking specifications)
Driving Force (end value on which the ad will focus)

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Using Values to Explain

Consumer Behavior (cont.)
Syndicated surveys: track changes
in values via large-scale surveys
Example: Yankelovich MonitorTM
>>>Americans moving toward simplification
& reduce concerns about gaining others
approval (Purchases)

Click image for

www.yankelovich.co
m

Voluntary simplifiers: once basic

material needs are satisfied,
additional income does not add to
happiness, <> community
building, public service, spiritual
pursuits

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Sustainability: New Core Value?

Conscientious consumerism: consumers focus on
personal health merging with a growing interest in
global health
LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability):
Consumers who:
Worry about the environment
Want products to be produced in a sustainable way
Spend money to advance what they see as their personal
development and potential

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Sustainability: New Core Value? (cont.)

Carbon footprint: measures, in units of carbon
dioxide, the impact human activities have on the
environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse
gases they produce
Primary footprint is a measure of our direct
emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels
Secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2
emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we
use

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Materialism
Materialism: the importance people attach to
worldly possessions
The good life...He who dies with the most toys,
wins
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

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Materialism
Tends to emphasize the wellbeing 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 antimaterialism movements

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Team work
Within your team,
1) Choose a product,
2) Try to establish the Means-End Chain Model/
Hierarchical Values Maps.
3) According to your findings, establish a
concept(S) of an advertisement for that product!!
Advertisement concept can be written as a
paragraph describing what the ad will look like.

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Individual homework (Measuring Involvement)

Using the involvement scale in this chapter;

Choose an object (product, Ad, situationetc)
Choose a person to apply the measurement on (could be YOU)
Expand the scale to 10 spaces, number them, 1 is low involvement,
and 10 is the high involvement.
After filling in, calculate the total and that would be level of
involvement.
What can you do as a marketer to increase involvement??!

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