Chapter 5:

Consumer Motivation

Consumer Behavior: A Framework

John C. Mowen
Michael S. Minor
 Ten Key Concepts
 Concept of Motivation  Opponent-process
 Consumer needs theory
 Operant conditioning  Optimum-stimulation
 Classical conditioning level theory
 Vicarious learning
 Reactance theory
 Perceived risk
 Consumer attributions
What is Motivation?
 Motivation refers to an activated state
within a person that leads to goal-
directed behavior.
 It consists of the drives, urges, wishes, or
desires that initiate the sequence of events
leading to a behavior.
 Motivation begins with the presence of a
stimulus that spurs the recognition of a need.
 Need recognition occurs when a perceived
discrepancy exists between an actual and a
desired state of being
 Needs can be either innate or learned.
 Needs are never fully satisfied.
 Feelings and emotions (I.e., affect) accompany
needs
 Expressive needs involve desires by
consumers to fulfill social and/or aesthetic
requirements.
 Utilitarian needs involve desires by consumers
to solve basic problems (e.g. filling a car’s gas
tank).
 The Structure of Emotions

 Ten Fundamental Emotions People Experience:

 Disgust Interest
 Joy Surprise
 Sadness Anger
 Fear Contempt
 Shame Guilt
 Some General Theories of Motivation
 Maslow hierarchy: physical, safety,
belongingness, ego, and self-actualiation
 McClelland’s Theory of Learned Needs
 Achievement motivation is seeking to get ahead, to
strive for success, and to take responsibility for solving
problems.
 Need for affiliation motivates people to make friends, to
become members of groups, and to associate with
others.
 Need for power refers to the desire to obtain and
exercise control over others.
 Need for uniqueness refers to desires to perceive
ourselves as original and different.
Classical Conditioning
 A neutral stimulus,
such as a brand
name, is paired with
a stimulus that
elicits a response.
 Through a repetition
of the pairing, the
neutral stimulus
takes on the ability
to elicit the
response.
 The conditioned stimulus (CS) is a
previously neutral stimulus which is
repeatedly paired with the eliciting
stimulus.
 The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is an
eliciting stimulus.
 The conditioned response (CR) is the
response elicited by the CS.
 The unconditioned response (UCR) is
the reflexive response elicited by the
unconditioned stimulus.
 Classical Conditioning
Relations
Unconditioned/Secondary Stimulus Unconditioned Response

Flag
Emotions
Pairing

Political Emotions
candidate

Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response

Requirements for Effective
Conditioning
 The neutral stimulus should precede in time
the appearance of the unconditioned
stimulus.
 The product is paired consistently with the
unconditioned stimulus.
 Both the conditioned stimulus and the
unconditioned stimulus are highly salient to
the consumer.
Applications of Classical Conditioning
 Applications: communications--advertising,
public relations, personal selling.
 Goal: identify powerful positive stimulus and
associate brand with it.
 Examples of powerful, emotion causing
stimuli:
 beautiful, sexy people

 patriotic themes, religious symbols

 Music, beautiful scenes

 Also, negative stimuli can be associated

with competitors.
 Credit card insignia may elicit spending

responses
Operant Conditioning . . .
. . . is the process in which the
frequency of occurrence of a bit of
behavior is modified by the
consequences of the behavior.
 If positively reinforced, the likelihood of the
behavior being repeated increases.
 If punished, the likelihood of the behavior
being repeated decreases.
 Reinforcement & Influencing
Behavior
 A reinforcer is anything that occurs
after a behavior and changes the
likelihood that it will be emitted again.
 Positive reinforcers are positive rewards
that follow immediately after a behavior
occurs.
 Negative reinforcers are the removal of an
aversive stimulus.
Secondary reinforcers . . .
. . . are a previously neutral stimulus
that acquires reinforcing properties
through its association with a primary
reinforcer.
 Over a period of time, previously neutral
stimuli can become secondary reinforcers.
 In marketing, most reinforcers are
secondary (e.g. a product performing well,
a reduction in price)
A Punisher . . .

. . . is any stimulus whose presence

after a behavior decreases the
likelihood of the behavior reoccurring.
Extinction & Eliminating
Behaviors

 Once an operant  Extinction is the

response is disappearance of a
conditioned, it will response due to lack
persist as long as it of reinforcement.
is periodically
reinforced.
Schedules of Reinforcement . .
.

. . . determine if a behavior is
reinforced after a certain number of
repetitions or after a certain length of
time has passed.
Example. Slot machines use a variable
schedule based upon number of pulls of
handle.
Discriminative Stimuli . . .

. . . are those stimuli

that occur in the
presence of a
reinforcer and do
not occur in its
absence.

Example: point of purchase

display is a discriminative
stimulus.
Stimulus Discrimination
and Generalization
 Stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism
behaves differently depending on the presence of
one of two stimuli. Goal of differentiation is to
cause stimulus discrimination.

 Stimulus generalization occurs when an organism

reacts similarly to two or more distinct stimuli.
Goal of “knock-off” brands is to use stimulus
generalization.
Shaping Consumer
Responses . . .
. . . is creating
totally new operant
behaviors by
selectively
reinforcing
behaviors that
successively
approximate the
desired instrumental
response.
Vicarious Learning . . .

. . . is the
phenomenon where
people observe the
actions of others to
develop “patterns of
behavior.”
Three important ideas:
 People are viewed as symbolic beings
who foresee the probable consequences
of their behavior.
 People learn by watching the actions of
others and the consequences of these
actions (i.e. vicarious learning).
 People have the ability to regulate their
own behavior.
Factors Increasing a
Model’s Effectiveness
 The model is physically attractive.
 The model is credible.
 The model is successful.
 The model is similar to the observer.
 The model is shown overcoming
difficulties and then succeeding.
 Three Major Uses of Social-
Learning Theory
 A model’s actions can be used to create
entirely new types of behaviors
 A model can be used to decrease the
likelihood that an undesired behavior
will occur
 The model can be used to facilitate the
occurrence of a previously learned
behavior
Midrange Theories of
Motivation
 Opponent-Process Theory
 Optimum Stimulation Levels
 The Desire to Maintain Behavioral
Freedom
 The Motivation to Avoid Risk
 The Motivation to Attribute Causality
Opponent-Process Theory
. . . explains that two things occur when a person
receives a stimulus that elicits an immediate positive
or negative emotional reaction:
 The immediate positive or negative emotional

reaction is felt.
 A second emotional reaction occurs that has a

feeling opposite to that initially experienced.

 The combination of the two emotional reactions

results in the overall feeling experienced by the

consumer.
 Explains addictive behaviors

 Explains priming—the effects of a small exposure

to a stimulus.
 Optimum Stimulation Level
. . . is a person’s preferred amount of
physiological activation or arousal.
 Activation may vary from very low levels (e.g. sleep)
to very high levels (e.g. severe panic).
 Individuals are motivated to maintain an optimum
level of stimulation and will take action to correct the
level when it becomes to high or too low.
 Accounts for high vs. low sensation seeking people.
 Accounts for variety seeking
 Accounts for hedonic consumption—I.e., the need of
people to create fantasies, gain feelings through the
senses, and obtain emotional arousal.
 The Desire to Maintain
Behavioral Freedom
 Psychological reactance is the motivational state
resulting from the response to threats to
behavioral freedom.
 Two types of threats can lead to reactance:
 Social threats involve external pressure from other people to
induce a consumer to do something
 Impersonal threats are barriers that restrict the ability to buy
a particular product or service
 Frequent in marketing: e.g., pushy salesperson
 Scarcity effects: scarce products are valued more.
Limited time offer, limited supply.
The Motivation to Avoid Risk
 Perceived risk is a consumer’s perception
of the overall negativity of a course of
action based upon as assessment of the
possible negative outcomes and of the
likelihood that these outcomes will occur.
 Perceived risk consists of two major
concepts - the negative outcomes of a
decision and the probability these
outcomes will occur.
7 Types of Consumer Risks.
 Financial
 Performance
 Physical
 Psychological
 Social
 Time
 Opportunity Loss
Factors Influencing Risk Perception
 Characteristics of the person—e.g.,
need for stimulation
 Nature of the task
 Voluntary risks are perceived as less risky
than involuntary tasks.
 Characteristics of the product—price
 Salience of negative outcomes
 Six risk-reduction strategies
 Be brand loyal and  Seek out information in
consistently purchase the order to make a well
same brand. informed decision.
 Buy the most
 Buy through brand image
expensive brand,
and purchase a quality which is likely to have
national brand. high quality.
 Buy through store image  Buy the least
from a retailer that you expensive brand in
trust. order to reduce
financial risk.
The Motivation to Attribute
Causality
Attribution theory describes the processes through
which people make determinations of the causality of
action.
 Internal attribution is when a consumer decides that

an endorser recommended the product because he or

she actually liked the product.
 External attribution is when a consumer decides that

an endorser recommended the product because he or

she was paid for endorsing it.
Augmentation-Discounting Model
 Discounting occurs if external pressures exist that
could provoke someone to act in a particular way - so
actions would be expected given the circumstances.
 The augmenting principle states that when a person
moves against the forces of the environment to do
something unexpected, the belief that the action
represents the person’s actual opinions, feelings, and
desires is increased.
 Fundamental Attribution error: One consistent
finding is that people are biased to make internal
attributions to others.
Applications of attribution
theory

 endorsers: seek to get consumers to

perceive internal motives for making
endorsement.
 satisfaction: seek to get consumers to
perceive external reasons for product
problem.
 sales promotion: find ways to avoid
consumers attributing the cause of the
purchase to the sale rather than to the
excellence of the product.
 Managerial Applications of Motivation
 Positioning/differentiation: use discriminative stimuli
distinguish one brand from another.
 Environmental analysis: identify the reinforcers and
punishers that impact consumers; identify factors that
influence risk perception.
 Market research: measure motivational needs (e.g.,
McClelland’s needs and need for arousal), measure risk
perception.
 Marketing mix: use motivational needs to design
products (e.g., safe cars) and to develop promotional
strategy that meets needs. Develop messages to
influence consumer attributions. Use in-store
promotions to prime consumers.
 Segmentation: Segment market based upon
motivational needs.