Consumer Motivation
Consumer Motivation
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter students should be able to:
1. Understand the types of human needs and motives and the meaning of goals.
2. Understand the dynamics of motivation, arousal of needs, setting of goals, and interrelationship between needs and goals.
3. Learn about several systems of needs developed by researchers.
4. Understand how human motives are studied and measured.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. This driving force is produced by a state of uncomfortable tension, which exists as the result of an unsatisfied need. All individuals have needs, wants, and desires. The individual’s subconscious drive to reduce need-induced tensions results in behavior that he or she anticipates will satisfy needs and thus bring about a more comfortable internal state. Motivation can be either positive or negative.
Innate needs—those an individual is born with—are physiological (biogenic) in nature; they include all the factors required to sustain physical life (e.g., food, water, clothing, shelter, sex, and physical safety). Acquired needs—those an individual develops after birth—are primarily psychological (psychogenic); they include love, acceptance, esteem, and self-fulfillment.
All behavior is goal oriented. Goals are the sought-after results of motivated behavior. The form or direction that behavior takes—the goal that is selected—is a result of thinking processes (cognition) and previous learning (e.g., experience). There are two types of goals: generic goals and product specific goals. A generic goal is a general category of goal that may fulfill a certain need; a product-specific goal is a specifically branded or labeled product that the individual sees as a way to fulfill a need. Product-specific needs are sometimes referred to as wants. For any innate or acquired need, there are many different and appropriate goals. The specific goal
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter students should be able to:
1. Understand the types of human needs and motives and the meaning of goals.
2. Understand the dynamics of motivation, arousal of needs, setting of goals, and interrelationship between needs and goals.
3. Learn about several systems of needs developed by researchers.
4. Understand how human motives are studied and measured.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. This driving force is produced by a state of uncomfortable tension, which exists as the result of an unsatisfied need. All individuals have needs, wants, and desires. The individual’s subconscious drive to reduce need-induced tensions results in behavior that he or she anticipates will satisfy needs and thus bring about a more comfortable internal state. Motivation can be either positive or negative.
Innate needs—those an individual is born with—are physiological (biogenic) in nature; they include all the factors required to sustain physical life (e.g., food, water, clothing, shelter, sex, and physical safety). Acquired needs—those an individual develops after birth—are primarily psychological (psychogenic); they include love, acceptance, esteem, and self-fulfillment.
All behavior is goal oriented. Goals are the sought-after results of motivated behavior. The form or direction that behavior takes—the goal that is selected—is a result of thinking processes (cognition) and previous learning (e.g., experience). There are two types of goals: generic goals and product specific goals. A generic goal is a general category of goal that may fulfill a certain need; a product-specific goal is a specifically branded or labeled product that the individual sees as a way to fulfill a need. Product-specific needs are sometimes referred to as wants. For any innate or acquired need, there are many different and appropriate goals. The specific goal