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Chapter 5: MOTIVATION AND AFFECT
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
When students finish this chapter, students should understand why:
1. Products can satisfy a range of consumer needs.
2. Consumers experience different kinds of motivational conflicts that can impact their
purchase decisions.
3. Consumers experience a range of affective responses to products and marketing
messages.
4. The way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our degree of involvement with
the product, the marketing message, or the purchase situation.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Products can satisfy a range of consumer needs.
Marketers try to satisfy consumer needs, but the reasons people purchase any product can vary
widely. The identification of consumer motives is an important step to ensure that a product will
satisfy appropriate needs. Traditional approaches to consumer behavior focus on the abilities of
products to satisfy rational needs (utilitarian motives), but hedonic motives (e.g., the need for
exploration or for fun) also play a key role in many purchase decisions.
As Maslow’s hierarchy of needs demonstrates, the same product can satisfy different needs,
depending on the consumer’s state at the time. In addition to this objective situation (e.g., have
basic physiological needs already been satisfied?), we must also consider the consumer’s degree
of involvement with the product.
Consumers experience different kinds of motivational conflicts that can impact their purchase
decisions.
A goal has valence, which means that it can be positive or negative. We direct our behavior
towards goals we value positively, we are motivated to approach the goal and seek products to
reach it.
Consumer experience a range of affective responses to products and marketing messages.
Affect describes the experience of emotionally laden states, but the nature of these experiences
range from evaluations, to moods, to full blown emotions.
The way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our degree of involvement with the
product, the marketing message,or the purchase situation.
Product involvement can range from very low, where purchase decisions are made via inertia, to
very high, where consumers form very strong bonds with what they buy. In addition to
considering the degree to which consumers are involved with a product, marketing strategists
also need to assess their extent of involvement with marketing messages and with the purchase
situation.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. The Motivation Process
A. Motivation refers to the processes that lead people to behave as they do. It occurs when a
need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy.
B. Needs can be:
1. Utilitarian—a desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit.
2. Hedonic—an experiential need, involving emotional responses or fantasies.
C. The desired end state is the consumer’s goal. Marketers try to create products and
services that will provide the desired benefits and permit the consumer to reduce tension
between a desired state and an actual state.
D. The magnitude of tension a need creates (or degree of arousal), which determines the
urgency the consumer feels to reduce it, is called a drive.
E. Personal and cultural factors combine to create a want. This is one manifestation of a
need. Once a goal is attained, tension is reduced and the motivation recedes.
F. Motivation can be described in terms of:
1. Its strength (the pull it exerts on the consumer)
2. Its direction (the particular way a consumer attempts to reduce it/tension)
Discussion Opportunity—Ask: Pretend you are to explain motivation to a friend. What would
you say? What examples would you use? (Do the same substituting goal, drive, and want.)
Discussion Opportunity—Bring in examples of magazine ads that demonstrate an attempt to
activate (a) a utilitarian need or (b) a hedonic need.
G. Motivational Strength
1. The degree to which a person is willing to expend energy to reach one goal as
opposed to another reflects his or her underlying motivation to attain that goal.
2. Early work on motivation ascribed behavior to instinct (innate patterns of behavior
that are universal in a species), but this view is largely discredited because it is hard to
prove without a circular explanation (tautology).
3. Drive theory focuses on biological needs that produce unpleasant states of arousal.
a. Goal-oriented behavior attempts to reduce or eliminate an unpleasant state and
return homeostasis, or a balanced state.
b. Some consumer behaviors, like delaying gratification, run counter to predictions
of drive theory.
4. Expectancy theory suggests that behavior is largely pulled by expectations of
achieving desirable outcomes—positive incentives—rather than pushed from within.
We choose products because we expect the choice to have positive consequences.
Discussion Opportunity—Ask: Can you think of purchase situations that illustrate drive theory
and expectancy theory? Which one of the theories do you think is superior?
Discussion Opportunity—If a car of tourists drives into an unfamiliar town at meal time and
stops at McDonald’s instead of an equally attractive and price-competitive JOE’S Eats, which of
the two theories (expectancy or drive) would probably be at work? How would JOE’S combat
this?
H. Needs Versus Wants
1. We are born with a need for certain elements necessary to maintain life such as food,
water, air, and shelter (biogenic needs).
2. Psychogenic needs include needs for status, power, and affiliation, and reflect the
priorities of a culture.
3. Utilitarian needs emphasize objective, tangible attributes of a product (e.g. fat,
calories, protein in a cheeseburger).
4. Hedonic needs are subjective and experiential. The product may be viewed for
excitement, self-confidence, or fantasy.
5. Productivity orientation refers to continual striving to use time constructively.
Discussion Opportunity—Ask: What is a product or service you could purchase to fulfill a
psychogenic need? Utilitarian need? Hedonic need? How would a marketer advertise to you
with respect to fulfilling these needs? How would you know that you had fulfilled the need?
6. Motivation and Emotion
a. Motivation is largely driven by affect (raw emotion).
b. We are driven to heighten positive emotions to reduce negative feelings.
c. Marketing activities try to alter mood and link products or services to affect.
d. Social media platforms provide an outlet for consumers to share emotions. Some
marketers monitor and try to improve these emotions.
e. Sentiment analysis (opinion mining) collects and analyzes words people use
when they describe a product/company and creates a word-phrase dictionary
(library) to code the data to paint a picture of how people are talking about the
product.
Discussion Opportunity—ToneCheck is a sentiment analysis program that reports on emotions it
detects in people’s emails. How can this practice help marketers provide value to consumers? Is
this ethical? Why or why not?
II. Motivational conflicts
A. A goal has valence, which means that it can be positive or negative.
i. We are motivated to approach goals we value positively.
ii. We are motivated to avoid negative outcomes.
B. Figure 4.1 shows there are three general types of conflicts we should understand.
*****Use Figure 5.1 Here *****
Discussion Opportunity—Give an illustration of when motives conflict with one another in
purchasing situations. Ask: Can anyone think of another example of when motives conflict?
iii. Approach-approach conflict—a person must choose between two desirable
alternatives such as choosing between two favorite brands of automobiles.
i. The theory of cognitive dissonance is based on the premise that people
have a need for order and consistency in their lives and that a state of
tension is created when beliefs or behaviors conflict with one another.
ii. A state of dissonance exists when there is a psychological inconsistency
between two or more beliefs or behaviors.
iii. People attempt to reduce dissonance, sometimes by rationalizing their
choice by finding flaws in the alternative they did not choose.
Discussion Opportunity—Ask: How could a marketer use the theory of cognitive dissonance to
their advantage? What do you think of Miller’s classic “Tastes Great, Less Filling” campaign?
iv. Approach-avoidance conflict—many products or services we desire have negative
consequences attached to them. An example wanting Twinkies but feeling like a
glutton.
v. Avoidance-avoidance conflict—a choice between two undesirable alternatives such
as having to spend more on an older car or buy a newer more expensive car.
Discussion Opportunity—Give an illustration of each of the three major forms of conflict. You
might even find examples of advertisements that demonstrate the three conflict situations. Ask:
How can marketers use these conflicts to their advantage?
C. How Do We Classify Consumer Needs?
i. Henry Murray’s classification of twenty psychogenic needs, such as the need for
autonomy (being independent), defendance (defending the self against criticism)
and play (engaging in pleasurable activities) are the basis for personality tests like
the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
ii. Other motivational approaches focus on specific needs and their ramifications for
behavior.
iii. Individuals with a high need for achievement strongly value personal
accomplishment.
iv. Individuals with a high need for affiliation want to be in the company of other
people (e.g. participate in team sports, frequent bars)
v. Individuals with a high need for power want to control their environment and
master their surroundings.
vi. Individuals with a high need for uniqueness want to assert their individual
identities and seek products that bring out the individual’s distinctive qualities.
D. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests the order of development in a
hierarchy of biogenic and psychogenic needs is fixed – we need to attain a level
before we activate the need for the next level.
i. It is difficult to achieve ultimate goals like justice and beauty. Most consumers
have to be satisfied with glimpses of self-actualized states, or peak experiences.
ii. Issues with applying the hierarchy:
a. Oversimplification of consumer needs.
E. Hierarchy too culture-bound (assumptions apply to Western culture). iii. The levels of
needs are Physiological, Safety, Belonging, Ego Needs, and Self-Actualization (see
Figure 5.2) At each level, the person seeks different product benefits.
F. Social media and web-based companies can help satisfy different levels of needs.
III. Affect
1) Types of Affective Responses
A)Evaluations are valenced (positive or negative) reactions to events and objects
that are not accompanied by high levels of physiological arousal.
B) Moods involve temporary positive or negative affective state accompanied by
moderate levels of arousal.
C) Emotions such as happiness, anger, and fear tend to be more intense and often
relate to a specific triggering event such as receiving an awesome gift.
D) Helping others as a way to resolve one’s own negative moods is knows as negative
state relief
IV. Mood
A)Mood congruency refers to the idea that our judgements tend to shape our moods.
B) Envy is a negative emotion associated with the desire to reduce the gap between one
self and someone who is supervisor on some dimension.
C) Guilt is defined as “an individual’s unpleasant emotional state associated with
possible objections to his or her actions, inaction, circumstances, or intentions.”
D) Embarrassment is an emotion driven by a concern for what others think about us.
*****Use Figure 5.2 Here *****
*****Use Consumer Behavior Challenge Here *****
Discuss #5
Discussion Opportunity—(a) Tell the class about a product you could buy that could fit into all
five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; (b) Bring an advertisement to class that demonstrates
each one of the needs (you may have to bring five ads).
V. Positive Affect
A. Happiness is a mental stare of well-being characterized by positive emotions.
1. We are wired to engage in material accumulation, the instinct to earn or have
more than we can consume.
2. Often, the experience is more important than the material acquisition.
VI. Negative Affect
A. Disgust evolved as a method to protect us from contamination. Disgust exerts a
powerful effect on our judgement.
B. Envy is a negative emotion associated with the desire to reduce the gap between what
you and someone who is superior in one dimension.
C. Guilt is an unpleasant emotional state associated with potential objections to one’s
actions, inactions, or circumstances.
D. Embarrassment is driven by a concern for what others think about us or our
situation.
VII. Social Media
Social media and other technology can help us better understand our emotions.
VII Consumer Involvement
A. Consumer involvement is “a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on their
inherent needs, values, and interests.”
1. Objects can be products, brands, advertisements or purchase situations.
2. The more you feel knowing more about a product will help you achieve a goal, the
more you’ll be motivated to pay attention to information about it.
*****Use Figure 5.3 Here *****
Discussion Opportunity—Ask: Who can give me an example of involvement with a product
category or brand? How can marketers use involvement to construct advertising campaigns?
B. Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to Passion
1. The type of information processing that will occur depends upon the consumer’s level
of involvement, which can be conceived as a continuum.
a. Simple processing—only basic features of a message are considered.
b. Elaboration—information is linked to one’s preexisting knowledge systems.
2. Inertia characterizes consumption at the low end of involvement.
a. In inertia, decisions are made out of habit because the consumer lacks the
information to consider alternatives.
b. On the other end of the continuum, decisions can be very passionate and carry
great meaning for a person.
3. In consumer situations of high involvement, the consumer enters a flow state, which
has these qualities:
a. A sense of playfulness
b. A feeling of being in control
c. Concentration and highly focused attention
d. Mental enjoyment of the activity for its own sake
e. A distorted sense of time
f. A match between the challenge at hand and one’s skills
4. Cult products command fierce consumer loyalty, devotion, even worship.
*****Use Consumer Behavior Challenge Here *****
Discuss #4
Discussion Opportunity—Ask the class to think of a time when they purchased something based
on the concept of inertia or passion. Have students share what they thought of.
C. The Many Faces of Involvement
1. Product involvement refers to the consumer’s level of interest in a particular
product. Product decisions are likely to be highly involving if the consumer believes
there is a perceived risk. Figure 5.4 lists five kinds of risk.
* Monetary risk
* Functional risk
* Physical risk
* Social risk
* Psychological risk
*****Use Table 5.1 Here *****
Discussion Opportunity—Create a handout using the consumer involvement scale in Table 4.1 to
measure involvement of two or three different products. Have the students quickly respond to the
scale and total their scores. Ask for general ranges of scores for each product or have specific
students share their scores. Encourage students to discuss the results and whether or not they
accurately describe how they feel about each product.
2. Message-response involvement (advertising involvement) refers to the consumer’s
interest in processing marketing communications.
a. Television is a low-involvement medium because the viewer is passive/exerts
little control.
b. Print is a high-involvement medium because the reader controls whether s/he
moves on to the next page or actively processes the information.
c. Well made ads and other messages can result in narrative transportation (people
become immersed in the story-line).
d. Marketers use the following techniques to increase motivation to process
information:
i. Appeal to hedonic needs (sensory appeals)
ii. Use novel stimuli (unusual cinematography, sudden silences, unexpected
movements)
iii. Use prominent stimuli (loud music, fast action)
iv. Include celebrity endorsers
v. Provide value customers appreciate
vi. Let customers make the messages (consumer-generated content can
improve message-response involvement)
vii. Invent new media platforms to grab consumer attention
viii. Create spectacles (performances) where the message is a form of
entertainment. Flashmobs (staged performances where hundreds of people
dance or sing that are often videotaped and posted online) are a type of
spectacle.
3. Purchase situation involvement refers to differences that may occur when buying
the same object for different contexts.
a. Personalizing messages to shoppers at the time of purchase can increase purchase
situation involvement.
b. Social games (multi-player, competitive, goal-oriented activities with defined
rules of engagement and online connectivity) tend to heighten purchase situation
involvement.
i. Brands can use social games to motivate behavior.
ii. Transactional advertising rewards players with virtual goods (for use in the
game), currency (used to advance the game), or codes (to unlock
prizes/exclusive experiences) if they respond to a request.
Discussion Opportunity—Illustrate each of the “faces of involvement.” How would marketers
make appeals in each of these areas?
End-of-Chapter Support Material
SUMMARY OF SPECIAL FEATURE BOXES
1. CB As I See It; Michael Tuan Pham, Columbia University
The decision making process has been described as a cognitive and rational process.
However, this does not capture the important role that feelings and emotions play in the
consumers’ decisions and behaviors. Feelings and emotions matter in the decision making
process. Distinct emotions such as pleasant, unpleasant, good, bad, pride etc. move
consumers in different directions.
2. The Tangled Web
Studies show that the longer people stay on Facebook, the worse they feel. This is attributed
to feelings of wasting your life and results in bad feelings.
3. The Tangled Web
Facebook got in to trouble when they admitted to adjusting news feeds without user
knowledge. This was done as an experiment to see if posts influenced what Facebook user
posted.
4. Marketing Opportunity
Gamification offers a way to dramatically increase involvement, especially for activities that
can benefit from motivation, such as financial literacy. The program Money Smart attracted
more than 40,000 users in a year.
5. Marketing Opportunity
The opportunity to personalize a product increases involvement because the item reflects our
unique preferences. The IKEA effect is the concept that building a product such as a
bookshelf also increases price.
6. CB As I See It; Debora Thompson, Georgetown University
The co-creation of marketing with consumers is expected to significantly increase consumer
engagement with a brand. While marketers should continue to engage consumers and benefit
from their creativity, they should be careful about how they publicize this fact to the
population at large.
7. Net Profit
The Nielsen research company found a strong relationship with the number of messages on
Twitter during the same segments on show, when they aired live. Nielsen found Twitter to be
an accurate indicator of the overall audience’s interest in a show, right down to a specific
scene.
8. Net Profit
E-sports is the concept of watching other people play videogames, and has attracted
thousands of fans.
