CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR – 2 : MOTIVATION INDUVIDUAL DETERMINATS OF BEHAVIUOR
INTRODUCTION To understand the buyer and to make a customer out of him is the main purpose of the study of consumer behaviour. Though this problem has been analysed from different view points under different premises, it still remains a complex one. On the other hand the buyer is a riddle. He is a highly complex entity. His needs & desires are innumerable. Some are latent, some manifest and some others are highly dominant. These have different priorities in the his scheme of things. The buyer has his own ideas & plans about realising these needs & desires. The first & foremost task of the marketer is to get close to the buyer and understand his need-structure & priorities. There are four major factors which influence the behaviour of the consumers. They are : 1. Psycholog Psychological ical factors factors influe influencing ncing Customer Customer Behavi Behaviour our 2. Social Social Psycholo Psychological gical factor factors s influenci influencing ng Custome Customerr Behaviour Behaviour 3. Sociologi Sociological cal factors factors influ influencin encing g Custome Customerr Behavio Behaviour ur 4. Economic Economic factors factors influenci influencing ng Customer Customer Behaviour Behaviour
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS These are the factors which are the personal attributes of an individual. We shall study Five of them : Attitude, Motivation, Perception, Personality and Learning. Motivation
Introduction : Human needs – consumer needs – are the basis of all modern marketing. Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. The key to a company’s survival, profitability & growth in a highly competitive market place is its ability to identify & satisfy unfulfilled consumer needs better & sooner than the competition.
Definition of Motivation – Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. It is defined as the stimulation of any emotion or desire operating upon one’s will and prompting or driving it to action. The study of Motivation refers to all the processes that initiate the drive in a person to perceive a need and pursue a definite course of action to fulfil that need. 1. Needs Needs : every every individu individual al has needs needs that are to be fulfil fulfilled. led. They They are : a.
Primary, Primary, Innate, Innate, Physiol Physiologica ogical, l, Biogenic Biogenic types types are the the basic need needs s of food. food. Air, water, water, clothing & shelter.
b. Secondary Secondary,, Acquired, Acquired, Psychol Psychologic ogical, al, Psychoge Psychogenic nic types types are the needs needs which we we learn in resp respon onse se to the the inte intera ract ctio ion n with with our our imme immedi diat ate e surr surrou ound ndin ing, g, like like cult cultur ure, e, environment, society, etc. 2. Wants Wants : needs needs are basic, basic, but wants wants are someth something ing more more in addition addition to the needs needs – that will have a desirable effect. Food is a need & the type of food is a want. 3. Goals : Goals are are objectiv objectives es of desire desire that that ought to be be fulfilled fulfilled.. They are are : a.
Generic Generic goals goals – are the the desires desires of a gener general al nature, nature, where as :
b. Product-s Product-speci pecific fic goals goals – are the desires desires of a specifi specific c nature with with the particular particular object object specified. 4. The The process process of motiva motivatio tion n : It starts starts when the cons consume umerr comes comes to know of a partic particula ularr need. If this need is not satisfied it creates a state of tension within the minds of the consumer. This state will drive the consumer to adopt a behaviour that will help reduce the tension. The type & nature of the behaviour people adopt depends on their learning, knowledge, perception, perception, belief, way of thinking, reasoning, etc.
Dynamic Nature of Motivation : Needs & their fulfilment are the basis of motivation. Needs change, so also motivation. Both internal & external factors are responsible for change. The fact is that not all needs are satisfied fully. When some are satisfied, some others arise. Sometimes because of personal, financial, social & cultural limitations, people can’t fulfil some of their needs, wants & goals. Failure of need fulfilment may give rise to the following states : 1. Rationalis Rationalisation ation – trying trying to justify justify the the situation situation & excusin excusing g oneself, oneself, 2. Aggressio Aggression n – getting getting angry & frustr frustrated, ated, and and resortin resorting g to unsocial unsocial actions actions,, 3. Regressi Regression on – trying trying to settle settle without without that particul particular ar need & try something something else, else, 4. Withdrawal Withdrawal – trying trying to disasso disassociate ciate onese oneself lf from from the very very thought thought of it.
Types of Motives – This is already described to some extent in the context of “Buying Motives” in Chapter-3 Buying Decision Making. We can add a few terms & concepts : The role of motives in influencing behaviour : 1. Physi Physiolo ologic gical al arousal arousal – when when a consu consumer mer become become aware aware of his needs needs due to change changes s in his physiological state, it will give rise to physiological motives, 2. Emot Emotio iona nall arou arousa sall – at time times s the the mund mundan ane e natu nature re of rout routin ine e life life leads leads a pers person on to fantasise or day dream, and this stimulates his latent needs to satisfy his emotion. 3. Cognit Cognitive ive arous arousal al – this this occurs occurs when we come come across across some some inform informati ation on incident incidentall ally y & this triggers our thought process & arouses a need in us. 4. Environm Environmental ental arousal arousal – the variou various s signals signals that we come come across across in our environm environment ent in the form of the sights smell & sound surrounding us also prompt many needs.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION : Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy : Dr Abraham Maslow, a clinical psychologist formulated a widely accepted theory of human motivation based on the notion of a universal hierarchy of human needs. This identifies five basic basic level levels s of human human need need which which rank rank in order order of import importanc ance e from from lower lower level level needs needs (biogenic) to higher level needs (psychogenic). The theory says that individuals need to satisfy the lower level needs before higher level needs arise. The lowest level of unsatisfied need that the individual experiences serves to motivate its behaviour. Only when it is satisfied fairly wel welll then then he can can thin think k of the the next next leve levell & so on. on. Acco Accord rdin ing g to this this theo theory ry it’s it’s the the “dissatisfaction” which motivates and not the “satisfaction”. Marketers need to know how to satisfy a need at what level, by studying the need hierarchy. 1. Physiolo Physiological gical needs needs – food, food, water, air, clothi clothing, ng, shelter. shelter. These These are the the lowest lowest or the first level needs. They are also a lso called basic, frugal, primary, biological, biogenic, physiological, innate etc.
2. Safety Safety or Securi Security ty needs needs – physic physical al safety safety,, protec protectio tion, n, stabil stability ity,, securi security, ty, mental mental piece piece.. Once the first level needs are satisfied, the individuals go for the next level where they need an uninterrupted fulfilment of the above needs, like regular income, permanent shelter, etc. 3. Social Social needs needs – affiliation, affiliation, friend friendship, ship, and and belonging. belonging. Once Once the second second level level is more or or less satisfied, this level comes. In social needs they need to maintain themselves in a society and try to be accepted in that so that they can interact with other members of the society. 4. Egoistic Egoistic needs needs – prestige, prestige, status, status, self-este self-esteem, em, fame. fame. Then comes comes the egoistic egoistic needs needs of a person that must be satisfied. He wants to rise above the general level/status of other members so that he gets some mental satisfaction. 5. Self-Act Self-Actualis ualisation ation – self self fulfilment fulfilment.. This is extreme extreme or highes highestt end of the hierarch hierarchy, y, where where the individuals try to excel in any field attaining very high order of achievement. These people are called “self-actualisers”. “self-actualisers”.
The Trio of Needs : Psychologists point out that sometimes it is not necessary that the individuals go thro’ the same systematic process of going from one level of needs to the next while fulfilling them. Or how much a level must be satisfied to move to the next level, for no needs are absolutely satisfied and there is no way to measure precisely. Also some intermediate levels may be skipped. This has given rise to another concept of Trio of needs where it is envisaged that human behaviour is influenced by the needs of power, affiliation & achievement. They are given below : 1. Need of of Power – the power power need need relates relates to individ individuals’ uals’ desir desire e to control control their their environmen environmentt including other persons & objects around them. The need appears to be closely related to the ego need, need, in that that many many indivi individu duals als experi experienc ence e increa increased sed self self estee esteem m when when they they exercise power over objects or people. 2. Need of of Affiliation Affiliation – affilia affiliation tion is a well well known & well well researche researched d social motiv motive e that has far reaching reaching influenc influence e on consumer consumer behaviour. behaviour. This suggests suggests that behaviou behaviourr is strongly strongly influenc influenced ed by the desire for friendship, friendship, acceptance acceptance and belonging belonging.. People People with high affiliation needs tend to be socially dependent on others. 3. Need Need of Achi Achiev evem emen entt – indi indivi vidu dual als s with with a stro strong ng need need for for achi achiev evem emen entt ofte often n rega regard rd personal personal accomplishm accomplishment ent as an end in itself. This is closely closely related to both the egoistic egoistic need & the self-actualisation need. The The above above two theori theories es of motiva motivatio tion n gives gives a clear clear pictur picture e of the way indivi individua duals ls are motivated by specific needs. The marketers need to study & understand each one of them separately and try to cater to their needs specifically.
Motivational theory & Marketing strategy : Marketers who understand the motives of their potential customers enjoy good sales & brand loyalty of their customers. Often it is also important to understand the motivational conflict the consumers face. A buyer has several motives and each change with cognitive, emotional and environmental elements. In such cases the marketers can readily help their customers by changing their marketing strategy so that the conflict is resolved. This can happen by readjustment of the marketing mix. The following three major conflicts may arise : 1. Approach Approach – approac approach h conflict conflict – happens happens when when the consum consumer er has two differ different ent choices choices of of similar or dissimilar category of product or services which he gives equal importance, but unable to choose one over the other. The marketer can come in to make his offer more attractive & important in any sense & help the customer to decide in its favour.
2. Approach Approach – avoidanc avoidance e conflict conflict – happens happens when the the consumer consumer has decide decides s in favour favour of a product but somehow not satisfied with a particular feature or wants to avoid it. The marketer can come in to make some modifications in the product’s features to suit & help the customer to decide in its favour. 3. Avoidance Avoidance – avoidanc avoidance e conflict conflict – happens happens when when the consum consumer er has to decide decide betwee between n two negati negative ve choic choices. es. The The choice choices s are said said to be negati negative ve in relatio relation n to certai certain n perso personal nal attributes of the consumer. The marketer can come in to make some suggestion in the decision making process to suit & help the customer to decide in its favour.
Involvement : Involvement is defined as a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on their inherent needs, needs, values values and interests interests.. Involvem Involvement ent in marketing marketing parlance parlance is the deep and special intere interest st the consum consumer er has for a partic particula ularr produc productt or servi services ces.. When When the consum consumer’ er’s s “involvem “involvement” ent” is high, then he tries to learn, learn, collect collect all information, information, updates his knowledg knowledge e about that product/service. This will give a high leverage & scope to the marketers to help build a brand loyalty in & relationship with the customer.
© Himansu S M / 12-Sep-2009