Summary of Consumer Motivation and Personality

Motivation - It is the drive to satisfy needs and wants, both physiological and
psychological, through the purchase and use of products and services.

Needs—circumstances or things that are wanted or required, and they direct the
motivational forces
1. Physiological needs - need for sleep, food, air, and reproduction
2. Psychological needs - required for basic psychological functioning and well-
being.

Goals—sought-after results of motivated behaviour, and all human behaviour is

goal oriented

Two types of Goals:

1. Generic goals - a general category of goal that may fulfill a certain need
2. Product-specific goals - a specifically branded or labeled product that
individual sees as a way to fulfill a need

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—consists of five levels of human needs, which rank

in order of importance from lower-level (biogenic) needs to higher-level
(psychogenic) needs

1. Physiological needs
2. Safety and security needs
3. Social needs
4. Egotistic needs
5. Self-actualization needs

Measuring Motives
Self-reported measures of motives—written statements which ask respondents to
indicate how relevant each statement is to them

Qualitative research—method that delves into the consumer’s unconscious or

hidden motivations

Personality - Personality consists of the psychological characteristics that both

determine and reflect how a person responds to his or her environment.

Theories of Personality:

1. Freudian theory - unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree

Submitted by: Group 3 [Yash Goyal (051), Puneet Kakkar (034), Pankaj Yadav
(032), Himanshu Jhamnani (018), Anjali Ladwal (025), Jalaj Sharma (019), Sambhav
Jain (040)]
 2. Neo-Freudian theory – more focused on the social environment and effects of
culture on personality
3. Trait theory - personality is made up of several broad traits

Self-image—represents the way a person views herself or himself

4 components of self-image:

1. Actual self image—the way consumers see themselves

2. Ideal self image—how consumers would like to see themselves
3. Social self image—how consumers feel others see them
4. Ideal social self image—how consumers would like others to see them

Submitted by: Group 3 [Yash Goyal (051), Puneet Kakkar (034), Pankaj Yadav
(032), Himanshu Jhamnani (018), Anjali Ladwal (025), Jalaj Sharma (019), Sambhav
Jain (040)]