Module 3

Consumer as an
Individual

PSY20
Marketing Psychology

to you third module!

This module is a combination of

synchronous & asynchronous learning
and will last for two weeks

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND

SCIENCES

MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA, RPm

Instructor

March 14, 2022

Date Initiated

San Mateo Municipal College March 22, 2022

Gen. Luna St. Guitnang Bayan I, San Mateo, Rizal Date of Completion
Tel. No. (02) 997-9070
www.smmc.edu.ph No part of this module may be
San Mateo Municipal College reproduced,
Module 3 /distributed,
PSY20 / Pageor
1 transmitted in
any form or by any means without the
College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: permission
prior MS. ALONDRA of
ARAthe
A. MENA
instructor.
 MODULE 2 OUTLINE
CONSUMER AS AN INDIVIDUAL
UNIT 1: DYNAMICS IN CONSUMER NEEDS
UNIT 2: CONSUMER MOTIVATION CONCEPT

MODULE DURATION:
I. 2 weeks

CONSULTATION HOURS:
If you have any clarifications or queries, you may reach me at my:
Gmail: menaalondra.rpm@gmail.com or message me at my messenger account:
Facebook: Alondra Ara Mena
I’ll make a concerted effort to entertain your questions within 24 hours. Provide only one
account for regular basis.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this module, you are expected to:
i. explain the different types of needs in consumer perspective;
ii. analyze and understand the systems of needs;
iii. apply the lessons about individual consumer motivation;
iv.demonstrate the roles, skills and functions of consumer motivation concept.

COURSE MATERIALS:

Book/E-book:
• Understanding Consumer Behaviour, Rai Technology University 1. Cases in
Marketing Management, Brennan. R, Pitman; 2. Marketing Management: The
Millennium Edition, Kotler.P, Prentice – Hall 3. Consumer Behavior, Schiffman
G.L and Kanuk L.L, PrenticeHall 4. Consumer Behavior, Atul Kr Sharma, Global
Vision Publishing House 5. Consumer Behavior, Raju M.S , Vikas Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 2

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
 UNIT 1 DYNAMICS IN CONSUMER NEEDS
Intro To Consumer Needs
We human beings have unlimited needs and our needs which we study as consumer needs are the basis of all modern marketing.
We can say that needs are the essence of marketing concepts. In fact, the key to a firm’s survival, profitability, and growth in a
highly competitive marketing environment is its ability to identify and satisfy unfulfilled consumer needs better and sooner than
the competitor. In this module we basically will be discussing the basic needs that operate in most people to motivate behaviour. We also go
further to explore the influence such needs have on consumption behavior.
What is Need?
So now let us see what is “need”?. We can say there is a cause for all the activities of human being, and each activity is backed
by a particular need or motive. Needs, we can say, is a feeling or desire for something, which is lacking and through performing
various activities to get the feeling of lacking removal and thus become satisfied. Thus any human behaviour is caused by motives
or needs. Hence to make it more clear, motivation is concerned with:

● Needs - the most basic human requirement.

● Drives - tell how these needs translate into behaviour.
● Goals - what these behaviours aim to achieve.

Types and Systems of Need

These needs that we discussed so far could fall into three broad categories:
a. Physiological (or primary) needs: Those needs, which are innate, or biogenics needs and sustain life. E.g., food and air.
b. Psychological needs: personal competence.
c. Learned (secondary or cultural) needs: acquired needs.

Needs Arousal
Needs can be aroused by four distinct stimuli:
• Physiological
• Cognitive
• Environmental
• Emotional

To understand the stimuli better let us look at examples for each kind of stimuli:

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 3

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
Goals
Goals are known as the sought after result of motivational behaviour. Goals may be generic or specific.

Selection of Goals
For a given need, the choice of the goal to satisfy the need will depend on a number of things:
• Personal experience
• Social and cultural norms and values
• Personal norms and values
• Physical and or intellectual capacity
• Accessibility of goal
• Self image

Fig. 1.1 Hulls Drives Reduction Theory

As we can see above in figure 1.1, a need will give rise to a drive and the resulting behavior will be aimed at reducing the drive and
thereby the need. According to Hull, the drive reduction act or the act of reducing the drive, will re-enforces the drive reducing behaviour
whereby it is likely the behaviour will be repeated again in case of recurrence of the need in the future.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 4

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
 Fig. 1.2 Reduction of Aroused Tensions
Let us take an example to understand this well. Suppose you are out in the Sun and feeling thirsty. Your behaviour will be to seek and find
out the nearest source of refreshment, a small restaurant perhaps. Going by Hull’s theory it is most likely that you will prefer to drink a cool
drink, which has satisfied your thirst in the past, ‘Pepsi’ for instance. You may also go for something similar like ‘Coca-Cola’ or try something
new. If this new option is found to be satisfactory, then it is likely to be selected next time you are thirsty.

What Determines Customer Needs?

1. Personal characteristics of the individual:
• Genetics – the branch of science dealing with heredity and chemical/biological characteristics. – E.g. food allergies.

• Biogenics – characteristics that individuals possess at birth. – E.g. gender and race.

• Psychogenics – individual states and traits induced by a person’s brain functioning. – E.g. moods and emotions.

2. Physical characteristics of environment:

• Climate - including temperature, attitude and rainfall – E.g. winter versus summer clothing.

• Topography – refers to the physical condition of the location. – E.g. mountain bikes in certain terrain.

• Ecology - including quality of air, ozone layer and food chain. – E.g. sun protection and allergy medications.

What Determines Customers Wants?

1. The individual context:
• Personal worth or the financial resources available to the individual – E.g. luxury versus budget cars

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 5

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
 • Institutional context – the groups and organisations that a person belongs – E.g. teen clothing styles

• Cultural context – the influence of a customer’s culture and cultural values – E.g. ethnic foods
2. The Environmental context:
• Economy

• Technology

• Public Policy

Person and Environment Characteristics

1. Needs-driven markets –E.g. summer clothing
2. Personal wants and environmental needs –E.g. name-brand summer clothing
3. Personal needs and environmental wants –E.g. ready to eat meals
4. Wants-driven markets –E.g. designer clothing

McClelland’s Three Needs Theory

As we know, having studied this before McClelland had identified three types of needs: Need for achievement, Need for Power, and
Need for affiliation.

• nACH: need for achievement: drive to excel: drive to achieve in relation to a set of standards; to strive to succeed.

• nPOW: need for power: the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.

• nAFF: need for affiliation: the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.

High nACH
Some people like goals, some do not. These people are high achievers.
• they are not gamblers
• they avoid very easy or very difficult tasks
• low odds of losing present no challenge to their skills
• high odds of losing offer no rewards from happenstance success • get most satisfaction from “50-50 odds

High nPOW
• these people like being “in charge”
• more interested in the prestige of power than in effective performance

High nAFF
• these people strive for friendship
• prefer cooperative rather than competitive situations
• desire relationships with a high degree of mutual understanding

Customer Emotions

Emotions
We can say that emotions are “Consciousness of the occurrence of some physiological arousal followed by a behavioural response along
with appraised meaning of both.”

Schachter’s two-factor theory

–Experience of emotion depends on automatic arousal and its cognitive interpretation.
–Marketers respond by designing the stimulus to fit appropriate consumption emotions and aiding in message appraisal.
E.g. symbolism in advertising.

Types of Emotions
Plutchik proposed eight primary emotions:
San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 6

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
 ● Fear: from timidity to terror
● Anger: from annoyance to rage
● Joy: from serenity to ecstasy
● Sadness: from pensiveness to grief
● Acceptance: from tolerance to adoration
● Disgust: from boredom to loathing
● Anticipation: from mindfulness to vigilance
● Surprise: from uncertainty to amazement
ARTICLES
Needs, Self-expression and Consumer Behaviour
Needs, motivation and personality are related concepts and it would be appropriate to consider them together in a practical context.
Need is a state of deprivation. Motivation is the drive, which propels a person towards achieving his goals, and personality is a set of inner
characteristics, which enable a person to decide how he or she should respond to the environment. Motivation and personality could be
linked - a person with a high degree of confidence may be assertive. There are a number of theories on personality. Freudian theory
assumes that the behaviour of individuals would be based on unconscious needs and drives. According to this theory, the human personality
consists of three parts - id, ego and superego. The id is the component, which consists of impulses and primitive instincts, which urge the
individual to move towards immediate gratification. A number of product categories which may not have well defined functional attributes
and which are oriented towards sensual pleasure formulate communication, which may appeal to the id part of the personality. Perfumes,
cigarettes and liquor are some categories, which make use of the approach. Black Knight and Bacardi brands are examples, which have
adopted this route to communication. There are two kinds of needs - primary and secondary. Primary needs are associated with
physiological needs such as thirst, hunger and sex. Secondary needs are acquired needs like a sense of belonging, status and self-
esteem.

Consumers may not consciously know their secondary needs and it is in this situation that the symbolism associated with brands
could appeal to consumers. Louis Philippe, Park Avenue in apparel, Mercedes in automobiles and Fastrack in watches are some examples,
which reflect the symbolism in brands. Consumers, by associating themselves with these symbolic brands, are able to gratify their
psychological needs. Research methods are required to probe into such needs of consumers. Liril soap was launched in the seventies after
a research agency researched and found that housewives had a distinctive need for fantasizing. This was captured in the advertisement for
Liril - waterfall, freshness (denoted by green) and the indulgence of the model in the advertisement. This communication is still being used
(with variations brought in) after more than two decades.

UNIT 2 CONSUMER MOTIVATION CONCEPTS

Intro to Consumer Motivation

It is important to understand fully why people might want to buy your product or use your service in order to better design the
product and communicate relevant benefits.

For that matter you can take your own example, and see why you buy what you buy? Note that for existing products, different people may
seek different benefits from the same product or though seeking the same benefits may regard them with differing degrees of importance.
For instance, much computer advertising has been criticised as placing excessive emphasis on statements about hardware specifications
rather than telling people what the computer actually can do for them. For some knowledgeable people a statement of specifications may be
easily interpreted in terms of benefits while for others, perhaps new to computers, such information may be meaningless. Note also that if a
new product is far removed from people’s range of experience, it may be difficult for them to articulate the benefits they perceive such a
product provides. Other techniques than simply asking them may need to be used in such cases. The benefits a consumer may seek from a
product may vary depending on the situation in which the product is to be used. For instance a consumer may approach the purchase of a
bottle of wine in quite a different way when the bottle is for own use rather than to be given as a gift to a host at a party. In the second
instance the benefit sought from the bottle may well be to act as a symbol of the strength of friendship between host and guest, rather than
for its taste. In this lesson we will be looking at the difference between motives and motivation, and the process of motivation.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 7

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
Motives and Motivation
Now that we know about needs and wants in detail from the last lesson, we need now to move into the customer motivation. But before
going into an in-depth discussion on these, we will first understand the distinct meanings of the three interrelated terms motives, motivating,
and motivation.

• Motives: Motives give direction to human behaviour. We can say that a motive is an inner state that energizes,activates, or
moves and directs or channels behaviour towards the goal.

• Motivating: This implies an activity engaged into by an individual, by which he or she will channelise the strong motives in a
direction that is satisfactory.

• Motivation: Motivating can be described as the driving force within individuals that impels them into action. For instance, at the
basic level, our body has a need (say hunger), which will translate into a drive (here the drive will be to obtain food) and the goal will be to
satisfy the need (in this example to feel full in the stomach). This can be illustrated as under in figure 2.1.

Fig. 2.1. Motivation: Need, Action, Satisfaction

Emotional Motives Versus Rational Motives

Traditionally, the term rationality is associated with persons who carefully weigh the pros and cons of all the alternatives
and then choose the one that gives them the greatest utility. We can say that consumers who are rational generally select the goals
after ascertaining the various objective criteria such as size, weight price etc. As opposed to this, emotional motives are those goals,
which are selected on the basis of emotional involvement. Most of the time, we select such goals purely on the basis of emotion’s
involvement.

Positive or Negative Motivation

Motivation can be either positive or negative. A positive motivation happens when an individual experiences a driving force
towards an object or person or situation. This is also called person motivation. On the other hand, a driving force compelling the person to
move away from someone or something will be known as negative motivation.

Consumer Motivation
The study of consumer motivation essentially addresses the question: “Why do people shop?” The answer, really, is that
people shop for a variety of reasons and it is very difficult to make generalizations. Shopping for food can, on one level, be seen as satisfying
some basic survival need. The problem with that, however, is that most of us buy far more food than we would actually need for basic
subsistence and many of the items we purchase in a supermarket are “luxuries” (relatively speaking). One of the most influential studies of
consumer motivation is that conducted by Tauber (1972). According to Tauber, there are two main categories of motivation for
shopping: Personal and Social.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 8

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
Personal Motives

● Role Playing – some shopping activities are associated with a particular role in society (housewife, mother, student, etc).

● Diversion – shopping can be a form or recreation, or an escape from daily routine.

● Self-Gratification – shopping can be mood-related, for instance where people engage in “retail therapy” to cheer themselves up
or alleviate depression.

● Learning – shopping is an ideal way to learn about new fashions and trends.

● Physical Activity – for some people, a stroll around the mall can be their main form of exercise.
● Sensory Stimulation – shoppers often report that they enjoy handling merchandise, the sounds of background music, the
scents of perfume counters, etc, and visit stores or malls to indulge in this.

Social Motives
● Social Interaction – people enjoy the opportunities for social interaction with friends, strangers, sales staff, etc.

● Peer Affiliation – certain shops allow customers to mix with key reference groups; e.g. people with shared interests,
members of a social category they either belong to or aspire to, etc.

● Status & Authority – shopping experiences are sometimes seen as ways of commanding respect and attention; e.g. during
encounters with sales staff.

● Pleasure of Bargaining – some shoppers love to “haggle”, a way of obtaining goods at a better price or of priding oneself on the
ability to make “wise” purchases.

The above categories are by no means mutually exclusive. Some 70% of the population visits a shopping mall at least once per
week and they are liable to do so for a variety of reasons at any one time. Shopping is certainly far more than merely going to a store to
buy a product one needs or wants – people often go to the mall with no intentions of spending any money at all.

Customer Moods
Moods are emotions felt less intensely and are short-lived.
• Marketing stimuli can induce positive or negative moods:
– Ambience of store or service delivery facility.

– Demeanour of salesperson.

– Sensory features of the product.

– Tone and manner of advertising.

– Content of message from salesperson or ad.

Hedonic Consumption
• The use of products/services for intrinsic enjoyment rather than to solve a problem in the physical environment
• Hedonic consumption creates pleasure through the senses:
– Sensory pleasure from a bubble bath.

– Aesthetic pleasure from an original work of art.

– Emotional experience from a scary movie.

– Fun and enjoyment from playing sports.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 9

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
The Dynamic Nature of Motivation
We can say that motivation is a highly dynamic concept, because it is constantly changing in reaction to life experiences. To put it in a more
comprehensive manner we say that motivation has a dynamic nature because of the following reasons:
• Needs and goals are constantly changing
–Needs are never fully satisfied
–New needs emerge as old needs are satisfied
–Success and failure influence goals
• Substitute goals
• Frustration
–Defense mechanisms (aggression, rationalization, regression, withdrawal, projection,autism, identification)

Involvement
Next we move on to the concept of Involvement and how it helps motivate consumers to take any decision. But, what exactly is Involvement?
• A person’s perceived relevance of an object based on inherent needs, values, and interests.
• The motivation to process information.
• The degree of personal relevance of an object, product or service to an individual.
–Enduring: the degree of interest on an ongoing basis
–Situational: the interest in a specific situation/occasion

Deep Involvement
• Deep involvement is a customer’s extreme interest in a product/service on an ongoing basis.

Types of Involvement
• Product involvement: When we are involved more with the product or service.

• Advertising involvement: When we are involved with the promotion message or specifically the advertisement of the
product or service.

• Purchase situation involvement: In this case we are involved mostly with the situation of the purchase rather than the
product or service itself, or advertisement for that matter.

Measuring Involvement
EXAMPLE: To Me Samgyeopsal Is:
1. Important : : : : unimportant

2. Boring : : : : : : interesting

3. Relevant : : : : : : irrelevant

4. Exciting: : : : : : unexciting

5. Means nothing : : : : means a lot to me

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 10

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA
 6. Appealing : : : : unappealing

7. Fascinating : : : : : mundane

8. Worthless: : : : : : valuable

9. Involving: : : : : uninvolving

10 not needed : : : : needed

Means - End Chain Model

If we take an example of a snack named, Healthy Choice. Let's say the main attributes are Low fat, Many flavors, and High
quality. As a direct consequence of these attributes, we can say that low fat would lead to a healthy body; many flavours would mean a
variety of choices; and high quality would mean great tasting. Now the question is to link these consequences to the end values. Say for
instance, the consequence of health could lead to a value of self-respect and Wisdom; great tasting could lead to happiness or pleasure.
See the example of Healthy choice concept based on Means - End Chain Model.

REFERENCES

Book/E-book:
o Understanding Consumer Behaviour, Rai Technology University 1. Cases in Marketing Management, Brennan. R, Pitman;
2. Marketing Management: The Millennium Edition, Kotler.P, Prentice – Hall 3. Consumer Behavior, Schiffman G.L and Kanuk L.L,
PrenticeHall 4. Consumer Behavior, Atul Kr Sharma, Global Vision Publishing House 5. Consumer Behavior, Raju M.S , Vikas
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 / PSY20 / Page 11

College of Arts and Sciences Prepared by: MS. ALONDRA ARA A. MENA