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Maslow 's Hierarchy Of Needs

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Motivation According to Consumer Behavior, “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,” (Solomon, 2013). Inherently, consumers do not make any purchase decisions without first having a motivation. A consumers’ motivation causes an internal tension that drives the consumer to reduce or completely eliminate it. (Solomon, 2013). Marketers often associate consumers’ motivations with their underlying wants and needs. I chose motivation because without having an initial motivation consumers’ would not make purchases and there would not be a field of consumer behavior.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, …show more content…

“Drive theory focuses on biological needs that produce unpleasant states of arousal. The arousal this tension causes motivates us to reduce it. The need to reduce arousal is a basic mechanism that governs much of our behavior,” (Solomon, 2013). According to psychology, “these needs may range from primary drives such as hunger, thirst and the need for warmth, to secondary drives such as social approval and money. Regardless of the type of drive, all drives are assumed to bring about an undesirable condition that necessitates reduction,” (,). Consumers feel motivated to reduce these feelings of tension such as hunger by purchasing products that relieve or reduce the tension. Consumers rely on their homeostasis or balanced state of being without tension to thrive. Once consumers find a way to reduce the tension their drive becomes reinforced as a behavior. For example, if every time a consumer is hungry they buy food to eat and their tension is reduced it will reinforce their purchase behavior of buying food to solve their hunger problem. However, drive theory only explains behavior that causes an action to reduce tension. Sometimes consumers resist a purchase decision and delay gratification such as not purchasing food immediately when you are hungry but waiting to overindulge on a big meal hours later. A real-world example of drive theory is the Snickers, “ You’re not you when your hungry” campaign. According to AdAge,

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