Theoretical Background Of Consumer Motivation

Why do people do what they do, why do the act the way they act, why do they make the decisions they make? Abraham Maslow was a humanist who created the respected Maslow's Hierarchy, the pyramid about the five branches of self need that all accumulate to self-actualization. Gathering Blue was a book released in 2000 about a girl in a dystopian society that loses it all and has to gain it back and become accustom to a new life. Kira, the main character from Gathering Blue by Lois Lowery shows comparisons to three different levels in Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Eighteen is a frightening age. I feel as though I have already experienced a lot and come a long way in discovering who I am. As I enter adulthood, I finally feel in control of my own life. Along with this, I also understand that I am still very young and I have a lot of years ahead of me. I constantly find myself wondering what I want to do with the one life that I have been given.

The reality, neither adopts a way of intrigue and nor urge for its approval. It is itself a great power.

Understanding consumer behaviour is essential to succeed in business. As Solomon et al. (2013) stresses, businesses exist to satisfy consumer’s needs. By identifying and understanding the factors that influences their customers, firms have the opportunity to develop a more efficient strategy, marketing message and advertising campaigns that is more in line with the needs and ways of thinking of their target consumers (Perreau, 2015).

In recent years, organizations have shown an interest in addressing the subject of employee attitude regarding their jobs and tasks. Many leaders believe that motivation is a key factor in keeping employees on a path to achievement in the workplace. Motivation as defined by Vroom (1964) is the force impelling an employee to perform a particular action. Theories of motivation started to be developed following World War II. Prior to this time, organizations had not shown any concern or interest in the increasing of employee’s productivity because social and economic conditions were such that the demand for a workforce had been less than the supply of people willing to find work.

Consumer motivation is an internal state that drives people to identify and buy products or services that fulfill conscious and unconscious needs or desires. The fulfillment of those needs can then motivate them to make a repeat purchase or to find different goods and services to better fulfill those needs (Peter & Donnelly, 2004). The behavioral aspect of consumer motivation concerns the actions someone takes before purchasing and consuming goods or services. A person might do a lot of research--evaluating alternatives, testing and sampling--before making a selection. Consumer might decide to buy something based on which goods or services most

Three streams of research and theoretical development have contributed much to our understanding of personality and its usefulness in marketing. First is Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality which is the cornerstone of modern psychology. This theory was built on the premise that unconscious needs or drives, especially sexual and other biological drives, are at the heart of human motivation and personality. Second is the neo-Freudian personality theory which believed that social relationships are fundamental to the formation and development of personality. Third is the trait theory which is primarily quantitative or empirical: focusing on the identification and measurement of personality in terms of specific psychological characteristics [7].

Each of the different theories and models of personality and human motivation is a different perspective on the hugely complex area of personality, motivation and behaviour. It follows that for any complex subject, the more perspectives you have, then the better your overall understanding will be. Each summary featured below is just that - a summary: a starting point from which you can pursue the detail and workings of any of these models that you find particularly interesting and relevant. Explore the many other models and theories not featured on this site too - the examples below are a just small sample of the wide range of models and systems that have been developed.

In attitude-behaviour relationships, the Theory of Reasoned Action states that consumer behaviours are constructed by their attitudes, and the attitude itself is the result of the consumers’ perception (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). With regards to greenwashing, research has found that this attitude-behaviour relationship could manipulate the perception of consumer (see table 2 for perceptions and explanations), for instance, perceived deception (Newell et al., 1998), perceived scepticism (Albayrak et al., 2011), perceived inconsistency (Gallicano, 2011), perceived distrust, and/or perceived risk (Chen & Chang, 2013). Consumers motivations for purchasing green products differ and may even be contradictory (Cleveland, Kalamas, & Laroche, 2005). However, to some degree, the motivations are thought to influence consumer purchasing behaviour and perception (Albayrak et al., 2011).

Almost all marketers must understand consumer behaviour because it allows marketers to understand and predict buying behaviour of consumers. Consumer buying behaviour (CBB) is crucial for marketers, at the same time it is a difficult subject to understand. CBB is not only about what consumers buy or what they are interested. CBB is all about why consumers buy it, where do they prefer to buy it, how they buy it, when they buy it and how often they buy it. CBB is a vast subject and marketers can use CBB for almost every business around the world. CBB can be influenced by culture, social class, family, personality, psychological factors and from his subculture. CBB is difficult and complex subject for marketers because CBB is evolving and thriving. CBB can be complex or simple mental process at the same time for marketers. In behaviour, human beings change directions of their lives. Environmental events are also other factor, which affects CBB. What happens in the external environment of consumers, also affects their buying behaviour. Marketers have the opportunity to understand and identify the CBB so that they can develop a significant strategy for their product or brand awareness. Advertisement is another important factor for marketers to convince and remind consumers about their product. Most of the time advertisements on

Motivation is the driving source for consumer behaviours. It’s the subconscious need that consumers want to satisfy. For brands and retailers trying to increase sales, they should try to create a need in the consumer’s mind so that they would be motivated to purchase from the respective brands and retailers.

Consumer motivation is simply a drive to achieve goals, to satisfy needs and wants. A need being, “Any unsatisfactory condition of the consumer that leads him or her to action that will make the condition better”, while wants are, “desires to obtain more satisfaction than is absolutely necessary” (Czinkota et. al, 2000, pg. 138).

A common method marketers use to attract consumers to their products is based around theories in psychology and consumer behaviour. This essay will be focusing on a specific area of consumer behaviour; personality and the self, and how marketers have used an understanding of this to develop brands that purposely appeal to certain consumer groups. Real company examples will be used to explore the different ways in which this understanding has been applied and to consequently establish what this means for organisations and consumers alike.

By understanding the sixteen psychological motives, marketers can associate the correct motives with the correct products and marketing campaigns and hence increase sales.

This step can be based on Abraham Maslow theory of basic human motivation. Hierarchy of basic human needs is formed and the basic needs should be fulfilled until next level of need can be fulfilled (Harris & Young, 1983). The five main levels are: Physiological – the basic social needs to survive, Safety and Security – future needs, Belonging – social circle, family, friends, Esteem – reputation, social status, Self-actualization – personal happiness is the highest level of satisfaction. This Maslow theory is a background for buyer motivation in training industry. Considering target segments companies and private individuals, trainings could be assigned for Safety and Security level and self-actualization. Companies after fulfilling basic survival needs level seeks for future need level. In this level companies need further trainings to improve its service quality and keep up with growing market and competition. For private individuals like freelancers and career changers trainings could be assigned for self-actualization level when trainings are in need to reach personal happiness. According to Shore (2015) motivation to buy arises from current dissatisfaction as person wants to correct