Ch. 10: Motivation, Personality, and Emotion

What is meant by a motive hierarchy? How does Maslow's hierarchy of needs function?

A motive hierarchy simply means that some motives are more important or basic than others. Maslow's hierarchy-of-needs approach is based on four premises: (1) all humans acquire a similar set of motives through genetic endowment and social interaction, (2) some motives are more basic or critical than others, (3) the basic motives must be satisfied to a minimum level before other motives are activated, and (4) after basic motives are satisfied, more advanced motives come into play.

What is a motive?

A motive is a construct representing an unobservable inner force that stimulates and compels a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response.

Describe Attribution Theory

Attribution theory relates to consumers having a need to attribute an underlying cause to a given outcome. This approach to understanding the reasons consumers assign particular meanings to the behaviors of others has been used primarily for analyzing consumer reactions to promotional messages (in terms of credibility). When consumers attribute a sales motive to advice given by a salesperson or ad message, they tend to discount the advice. In contrast, similar advice given by a friend would likely be attributed to a desire to be helpful and might therefore by accepted.

How can knowledge of personality be used to develop marketing strategy?

Brands, like individuals, have personalities, and consumers tend to prefer products with brand personalities that are pleasing to them. Consumers also prefer advertising messages that portray their own or a desired personality.

What is consumer ethnocentrism and why is it important to global marketers?

Consumer ethnocentrism reflects an individual difference in consumers' propensity to be biased against the purchase of foreign products.

What is coping and what are the general types of coping mechanisms used by consumers?

Coping involves consumer thoughts and behaviors in reaction to a stress-inducing situation, designed to reduce stress and achieve more desired positive emotions. Coping mechanisms include (1) active coping, (2) expressive support seeking, and (3) avoidance.

What is emotion? What are the basic dimensions of emotion?

Emotions are strong, relatively uncontrollable feelings that affect our behavior. Some researchers have suggested that three basic dimensions—pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD)—underlie all emotions. Specific emotions reflect various combinations and levels of these three dimensions

What factors characterize emotions?

Emotions can be categorized by the environmental events or internal processes that trigger them, the cognitive thoughts, physiological changes, subjective feelings and unique behaviors that are associated with them.

What is consumer gratitude, and what outcomes are associated with this emotion?

Gratitude in a consumer context is the emotional appreciation for benefits received. Firms can create it by making relationship marketing investments. The outcomes include higher levels of trust, purchase, and consumer-based reciprocity that aids the firm in terms of more and broader sales and positive word of mouth.

What is the relationship between involvement and motivation?

Involvement is a motivational state caused by consumer perceptions that a product, brand, or ad is relevant or interesting.

What is a manifest motive? A latent motive? How is each measured?

Manifest motives are known to the individual and are freely admitted. Latent motives are unknown to the individual or are such that he or she is reluctant to admit them. Manifest motives can be measured by direct questions. Latent motives may require projective techniques or other indirect approaches.

How do you appeal to manifest motives? Latent motives?

Manifest motives can be appealed to directly - when appropriate, for example through detailed product performance and benefits Latent motives must often be appealed to indirectly via symbolism (sophisticated model) that speaks to the motive being targeted (wealth, power, and status).

How do marketers use emotions in product design and advertising?

Marketers design and position products and services to activate emotions (a thrilling movie) or to reduce emotions (relaxing vacation sites). Emotional content in advertisements enhances their attention-attraction and maintenance capabilities. Emotional messages are processed more thoroughly and trigger greater liking of the ad itself than ads without emotional content.

What is meant by motivational conflict, and what relevance does it have for marketing managers?

Most behaviors, including purchase and use, are subject to multiple motives, and there are many situations where these motives come in conflict with each other. The resolution of conflict can affect consumption patterns and, therefore, is of interest to marketing managers. Three types of conflict are approach-approach conflict, approach-avoidance conflict, and avoidance-avoidance conflict.

Describe each of McGuire's motives.

Need for Consistency: A basic desire is to have all facets or parts of oneself consistent with each other. These facets include attitudes, behaviors, opinions, self-images, views of others, and so forth. Need to Attribution: This set of motives deals with our need to determine who or what causes the things that happen to us. Need to Categorize: We have a need to be able to categorize and organize information and experiences in some meaningful yet manageable way. So we establish categories or mental partitions which allow us to process large quantities of information. Need for Objectification: These motives reflect needs for observable cues or symbols which enable us to infer what we feel and know. Impressions, feelings, and attitudes are subtly established by viewing our own behavior and that of others and drawing inferences as to what we feel and think. Need for Autonomy: The need for independence and of self-government is a characteristic of the American culture as described in Chapter 2. It is likely that all individuals have this need at some level. Americans are taught that it is proper and even essential to express and fulfill this need. Teleological Need: This motive propels us to prefer mass media such a movies, television programs, and books with outcomes that match our view of how the world should work (the "good guys" win, the hero gets the heroine, and so forth). Utilitarian Need: These theories view the consumer as a problem solver who approaches situations as opportunities to acquire useful information or new skills. Need for Stimulation: We often seek variety and difference simply out of a need for novelty. Marketers refer to the outcome of this motive as variety-seeking behavior. Need for Tension-Reduction: We encounter situations in our daily lives that create uncomfortable levels of stress. In order to effectively manage tension and stress in our lives we are motivated to seek ways to reduce arousal. Need for Expression: This motive deals with the need to express one's identity to others. We feel the need to let others know by our actions, including the purchase and display of goods, who we are and what we are. Need for Ego-Defense: When our identity is threatened, we are motivated to protect our self-concept and utilize defensive behaviors and attitudes. Need for Reinforcement: We quite often are motivated to act in certain ways because we are rewarded for doing so. This is the basis for operant learning as described in the previous chapter. Need for Assertion: The need for assertion reflects a consumer's need for engaging in those types of activities that will bring about an increase in self- esteem, as well as esteem in the eyes of others. Need for Affiliation: Affiliation is the need to develop mutually helpful and satisfying relationships with others. The need here is to share and to be accepted by others. Need for Identification: These theories view the consumer as a role player. Thus, you may play the role of college student, sorority member, bookstore employee, fiancée, and many others. One gains pleasure from adding new, satisfying roles and by increasing the significance of roles already adopted. Need for Modeling: The need for modeling reflects a tendency to base behavior on that of others. Modeling is a major means by which children learn to become consumers.

Personality is the characteristic and relatively enduring ways that people have of responding to the situations they face, which include responses to marketing strategies.

Personality is the characteristic and relatively enduring ways that people have of responding to the situations they face, which include responses to marketing strategies.

What physiological changes accompany emotional arousal?

Physiological changes that accompany emotions include increased perspiration, eye pupil dilation, increased heart and breathing rate, and elevated blood sugar level.

Describe each level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Physiological: The basic requirements for existence such as food, water, and shelter. Safety: Physical security and protection from bodily harm. Belongingness: Needs for acceptance, love, and friendship. Esteem: Desire for status, self-respect, and prestige. Self-actualization: The desire for self-fulfillment, to reach one's potential.

Describe regulatory focus theory

Regulatory focus theory suggests that consumers will react differently depending on which broad set of motives (promotion-focus or prevention-focus) is most salient. The following briefly characterizes the differences: a. Promotion-focused motives—which revolve around a desire for growth and development and are related to consumers' hopes and aspirations. When promotion-focused motives are more salient, consumers seek to gain positive outcomes, think in more abstract terms, make decisions based more on affect and emotion, and prefer speed versus accuracy in their decision making. b. Prevention-focused motives—which revolve around a desire for safety and security and are related to consumers' sense of duties and obligations. When prevention-focused motives are more salient, consumers seek to avoid negative outcomes, think in more concrete terms, make decisions based more on factual substantive information, and prefer accuracy over speed in their decision making.

Describe the following motivation research techniques (see Appendix A and Appendix Table A-1 for details): a) Association, b) Completion, c) Construction.

a. Association Techniques: Word Association: Consumers respond to a list of words with the first word that comes to mind. Successive Word Association: Consumers give the series of words that come to mind after hearing each word on the list. b. Completion Techniques: Sentence Completion: Consumers complete a sentence such as "People who buy Cadillacs _________________." Story Completion: Consumers complete a partial story. c. Construction Techniques: Cartoon Techniques: Consumers fill in the words and/or thoughts of one of the characters in a cartoon drawing. Third-Person Techniques: Consumers tell why "an average woman," "most doctors," or "people in general" purchase or use a certain product. Shopping lists (a person who would go shopping with this list) and lost wallets (a person with these items in their wallet) are also third-person techniques. Picture Response: Consumers tell a story about a person shown buying or using a product in a picture or line drawing