2. Consumer Behavior: A Framework
John C. Mowen
Michael S. Minor
Chapter 5:
Consumer Motivation
3. Ten Key Concepts
• Concept of Motivation
• Consumer needs
• Operant conditioning
• Classical conditioning
• Vicarious learning
• Opponent-process
theory
• Optimum-stimulation
level theory
• Reactance theory
• Perceived risk
• Consumer attributions
4. 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.
5. • 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).
6. The Structure of Emotions
• Ten Fundamental Emotions People Experience:
– Disgust Interest
– Joy Surprise
– Sadness Anger
– Fear Contempt
– Shame Guilt
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. • 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.
11. 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.
12. 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
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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)
16. A Punisher . . .
. . . is any stimulus whose presence after a
behavior decreases the likelihood of the
behavior reoccurring.
17. Extinction & Eliminating Behaviors
• Once an operant
response is
conditioned, it will
persist as long as it is
periodically
reinforced.
• Extinction is the
disappearance of a
response due to lack of
reinforcement.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. Shaping Consumer Responses . . .
. . . is creating totally
new operant behaviors
by selectively
reinforcing behaviors
that successively
approximate the
desired instrumental
response.
22. Vicarious Learning . . .
. . . is the phenomenon
where people observe
the actions of others to
develop “patterns of
behavior.”
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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
26. 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
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 7 Types of Consumer Risks.
• Financial
• Performance
• Physical
• Psychological
• Social
• Time
• Opportunity Loss
32. 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
33. Six risk-reduction strategies
– Be brand loyal and
consistently purchase the
same brand.
– Buy through brand image
and purchase a quality
national brand.
– Buy through store image
from a retailer that you trust.
– Seek out information in
order to make a well
informed decision.
– Buy the most expensive
brand, which is likely to
have high quality.
– Buy the least expensive
brand in order to reduce
financial risk.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.
