CH-4 Motivation And Values – Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being : Book Guide

Chapter 4 Motivation And Values CHAPTER OBJECTIVES When students finish this chapter they should: •Understand that it is important for marketers to recognize that products can satisfy a range of consumer needs. •Understand that there are different theories that can be used to predict what will motivate consumers. •Understand that consumers can experience different types of motivational conflicts that can impact their purchase decisions. •Understand that Maslow’s hierarchy outlines how various levels of needs can motivate consumers. •Understand that the way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our degree of involvement with the product, the marketing message, and/or the purchase situation. •Understand that consumers can experience different types of affective responses, which can influence consumption behaviours. •Understand that marketers can tap into various discrete emotions to influence consumer responses. CHAPTER SUMMARY •Marketers try to satisfy consumer needs, but the reasons any product is purchased can vary widely. The identification of consumer motives is an important step in ensuring that the appropriate needs will be met by a product. Traditional approaches to consumer behaviour have focused on the abilities of products to satisfy rational needs (utilitarian motives), but hedonic motives (such as the need for exploration or fun) also play a role in many purchase decisions. •As demonstrated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the same product can satisfy different needs depending on the consumer’s state at the time (i.e., whether basic physiological needs have already been satisfied). In addition to his or her objective situation, the consumer’s degree of involvement with the product must also be considered. This response can also extend to other, similar stimuli in a process known as stimulus generalization. This process is the basis for such marketing strategies as licensing and family branding, in which a consumer’s positive associations with a product are transferred to other contexts. •Product involvement can range from very low, in which purchase decisions are made by inertia, to very high, in which consumers form very strong bonds with what they buy. In addition to considering the degree to which consumers are involved with a product, marketing strategists also need to assess the extent of involvement with marketing messages and with the purchase situation. •Discrete emotions such as happiness, envy, guilt, and embarrassment can influence a variety of consumer outcomes. LECTURE/DISCUSSION IDEAS V. INTRODUCTION – Why consumers do what they do, the forces that drive them  Consumers' desire for adventure, even tinged with a bit of danger, has meant big business for the adventure travel industry, which specializes in providing white- knuckled experiences. Bungee jumping, which originated in 1979, has now been joined by white-water rafting, sky diving, mountain biking, snowboarding, kite surfing and other physically stimulating activities that are increasing in popularity.i II. THE MOTIVATION PROCESS – Causes people to behave as they do •Goal: desired end state •Drive: degree of arousal III. MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH – Degree to which a person will expend energy to reach a goal A. Drive Theory – Biological needs that produce unpleasant situations (hungry) B. Expectancy Theory – Acts based on desire to achieve desirable outcomes Class Interaction Opportunity: Pretend you are explaining motivation/goal/drive/want to a friend. What would you say? What consumer behaviour examples would you use? IV. MOTIVATIONAL DIRECTION – Most goals can be achieved in numerous ways A. Need vs. Wants – A person may need food, but they want a Big Mac B. Types of Needs •Biogenic needs: food, water, air, and shelter •Psychogenic needs: power, status, affiliation •Utilitarian needs: emphasizes objective, tangible attributes (kms per litre) •Hedonic needs: subjective and experiential (excitement, self-confidence, fantasy) Class Interaction Opportunity: Bring in examples of magazine ads that demonstrate an attempt to activate (a) a utilitarian need, (b) a hedonic need, or a (c) psychogenic need. How would a marketer advertise with respect to fulfilling these needs? How would a consumer know that one of these needs was fulfilled? C. Motivational Conflicts – Goals can be positive or negative 1. Approach-Approach Conflict – You want both (spend your spring break: skiing in the Rockies or swimming in Cancun) 2. Approach-Avoidance Conflict – Desirable products have negative consequences (gourmet ice cream has high fat content) 3. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict – Don’t want either (repair your transmission or buy another car) Class Interaction Opportunity: Give illustrations of the three major forms of conflict. (You might find examples of advertisements that demonstrate the three conflict situations.) How can marketers use these conflicts to serve their consumer markets effectively? D. Classifying Consumer Needs – Henry Murray has a set of 20 needs 1. Specific needs and buying behaviour •Need for achievement – personal accomplishment •Need for affiliation – the company of others (sports bars) •Need for power – to control one’s environment (being waited on by others) •Need for uniqueness: I wanna be me! (personalized items) 2. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, belongingness, ego, self-actualization; not always stair-step approach) Class Interaction Opportunity: Tell the class about a product you could buy that could fit into all five levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Use advertisements that demonstrate each of the five levels of needs. E. Motivation and Goal Fulfillment •Set S.M.A.R.T goals to achieve them •Goal progress (real and perceived), temporal considerations, switching goals V. CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT – Perceived relevance based on needs, values, interests A. Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to Passion •Inertia: decisions are made out of habit •Passion: high involvement products that carry a lot of meaning for consumer  Most marketing stimuli generate no active processing at all.ii B. The Many Faces of Involvement – Several broad types of involvement exist 1. Product involvement – Various levels of interest in making a purchase, mass customization to enhance involvement 2. Message-response involvement – Level of interest in processing ads •Television: low-involvement, passive viewers (zipping and zapping) •Print: high-involvement, active participant •Tactics include marketing performances Class Interaction Opportunity: The Benetton apparel company has a reputation for creating controversial ads that generate a lot of publicity and public interest. Sometimes, however, fueling the fires of involvement can backfire. Do you think this practice, sometimes called point-of-purchase politics, of linking products to social causes is effective? Class Interaction Opportunity: Tell us about an ad that you like. Tell us about an ad you don't like. Do you use either of the advertised products? 3. Purchase situation involvement – Importance of product to different situations  Ads that are inconsistent with an evoked schema have been found to initiate more extensive processing, which is a mixed blessing. Evaluations tend to be more positive when a stimulus is moderately incongruent with a category, while extreme departures may actually decrease processing.iii  For research indicating that enduring involvement is a precursor to opinion leadership, see reference.iv C. Segmenting by Involvement Levels – Diversity of involvement among groups D. Strategies to Increase Involvement – Use one or more of the following techniques: •Novel stimuli (cinematography, sudden silences, unexpected motion) •Prominent stimuli (loud music, large ads, colour, fast action) •Celebrity endorsers (they generate high interest) •Build a bond with consumer (relationship marketing) •Appeal to hedonic needs (sensory appeals) •Consumer-generated content (let them make the messages) VI. AFFECT – Experience of emotionally-laden states; highlighted by marketers as product benefits (positive benefits, negative affect avoidence) A. Types of Affective Responses •Affect: the experience of emotionally-laden states (evaluations, moods, emotions) •Evaluations: valenced (i.e., positive or negative) reactions that don’t have high levels of arousal •Moods: temporary valenced states accompanied by moderate arousal •Emotions: more intense (relative to moods) and often triggered by event (happiness, anger, fear, etc.) o Negative state relief – resolving one’s negative moods through consumption o Mood congruency – judgments are often consistent with mood states B. How Social Media Taps into Our Emotions – We actively convey how we feel – valuable source of information for marketers •Sentiment analysis (opinion mining) – Collecting and analyzing words people use to describe a product/company C. Discrete Emotions – 1. Happiness – positive emotions 2. Envy – negative emotion; benign (other deserves), malicious (other does not deserve) 3. Guilt – unpleasant 4. Embarrassment – social emotion, concern for what others are thinking END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT MATERIAL Summary of Special Feature Boxes 1. Marketing Insight I: Positioning for Needs This box discusses using needs (e.g., Maslow’s Hierarchy) to establish a general understanding of what consumers are trying to fulfill with a product, which can help marketers decide how to position the products appropriately in order to resonate with relevant consumer needs. 2. Consumers in Focus I: Accounting for Needs Consumers’ needs and motivations cannot always be accounted for by theories (e.g., Maslow’s Hierarchy) – and this box presents social media as a prime example. Such sites may serve a variety of consumer needs through the ability to connect with others, share a particular image of oneself, and confirm and enhance experiences. 3. Marketing Insight II: Gamification This box puts a spotlight on the impact of Gamification (the application of gaming principles to non-gaming contexts). It is a very effective means of enhancing consumer involvement, especially for activities that can benefit from a bit of motivation. The box provides an example for the promotion in the area of financial literacy. 4. Marketing Insight III: The IKEA Effect This box discusses the “IKEA effect.” Self-made (or assembled) products, including furniture, Lego, and even origami, enhance the value we attach to them because our own labour is involved. 5. Consumers in Focus II: Facebook Feelings According to the research discussed in this box, the longer people stay on Facebook, the worse they feel. Apparently this activity makes you feel as though you’re wasting your life. 6. CB As I See It Monica Popa, University of Saskatchewan, conducts research on the positive affect consumers experience by saying words out loud that contain sound repetition in their structure as often used in brands (e.g., Jelly Belly). She has found that the positive emotions generated from saying such brand names leads to higher evaluations and a greater likelihood to choose the brand over others. Further, because consumers are feeling positive from saying the brand names, they are more likely to buy add-on features/services, particularly hedonic ones (rather than utilitarian) or to order food that is indulgent (vs. healthy). How customers are feeling can thus be influenced by things like brand names, and these feelings impact consumer choices. 7. Marketing Insight III: Fear and Feelings What impact would the unrelated emotion of fear have on how you feel about a candy brand? They discovered that fear led to a desire for affiliation and that people felt more connected to the brand when they experienced fear. In the absence of social support, the brand itself can fulfill the interpersonal psychological need for affiliation. This work is suggestive that marketers don’t have to avoid social media, movies, and video games that might incidentally create fear and could instead use such contexts to try to create a sense of attachment to the brand. Review Questions 1. What is motivation, and how is this idea relevant to marketing? Answer: 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. Once a need has been activated, a state of tension exists that drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate the need. Marketers try to create products and services that will provide the desired benefits and permit the consumer to reduce this tension. 2. Describe three types of motivational conflicts, citing an example of each from current marketing campaigns. Answer: In an approach–approach conflict, a person must choose between two desirable alternatives. A student might be torn between going home for the holidays or going on a skiing trip with friends. Many of the products and services we desire have negative consequences attached to them as well. We may feel guilty or ostentatious when buying a status-laden product such as a fur coat, or we might feel like a glutton when contemplating a tempting package of Twinkies. An approach–avoidance conflict exists when we desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same time. Sometimes consumers find themselves “caught between a rock and a hard place.” They may face a choice with two undesirable alternatives, for instance, the option of either throwing more money into an old car or buying a new one. Marketers frequently address an avoidance–avoidance conflict with messages that stress the unforeseen benefits of choosing one option (e.g., by emphasizing special credit plans to ease the pain of car payments). 3. Explain the difference between a need and a want. Answer: The specific way a need is satisfied depends on the individual’s unique history, learning experiences, and cultural environment. A want is the particular form of consumption used to satisfy a need. For example, two classmates may feel their stomachs rumbling during a lunchtime lecture. If neither person has eaten since the night before, the strength of their respective needs (hunger) would be about the same. However, the ways each person goes about satisfying this need might be quite different. 4. What is cognitive dissonance? Answer: The theory of cognitive dissonance is based on the premise that people have a need for order and consistency in their lives and that a state of tension is created when beliefs or behaviours conflict with one another. The conflict that arises when choosing between two alternatives may be resolved through a process of cognitive dissonance reduction, where people are motivated to reduce this inconsistency (or dissonance) and thus eliminate unpleasant tension. 5. Name the levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and give an example of a marketing appeal that's focused at each level. Answer: • Physiological: “I like to work in the soil.” • Safety: “I feel safe in the garden.” • Social: “I can share my produce with others.” • Esteem: “I can create something of beauty.” • Self-actualization: “My garden gives me a sense of peace.” 6. What is consumer involvement? How does this concept relate to motivation? Answer: We can define involvement as “a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on their inherent needs, values, and interests.” The word object is used in the generic sense and refers to a product (or a brand), an advertisement, or a purchase situation. Consumers can find involvement in all these objects. 7. Why would marketers want their customers to enter into a flow state when shopping for their products? Answer: When consumers are truly involved with a product, an ad, or a website, they enter what it called a flow state. This state is the Holy Grail of web designers who want to create sites that are so entrancing the surfer loses all track of time as he becomes engrossed in the site’s contents (and hopefully buys stuff in the process!). 8. List three types of consumer involvement, giving an example of each type. Answer: • Product involvement refers to a consumer’s level of interest in a particular product. Many sales promotions are designed to increase this type of involvement. When Lifesavers announced that it was going to eliminate the pineapple flavor unless consumers went to its website and voted to keep it, over 400,000 consumers heard the call and saved the flavor. • Message response involvement is when the consumer is actively involved in processing a marketing message. Marketing tactics involve using different message formats, creating marketing performances or using interactive, mobile marketing. For example, Montreal subway riders could play an interactive game developed by Koodo Mobile, Telus' discount brand. Subway riders could search for a Koodo character using an interactive touch screen while being exposed to the benefits of its new nationwide talk and text plan. • Purchase situation involvement refers to differences that may occur when buying the same object for different contexts. Here the person may perceive a great deal of social risk or none at all. For example, when you want to impress someone you may try to buy a brand with a certain image that you think reflects good taste. When you have to buy a gift for someone in an obligatory situation, like a wedding gift for a cousin you do not really like, you may not care what image the gift portrays. 9. What are some strategies marketers can use to increase consumers’ involvement with their products? Answer: •Appeal to the consumers’ hedonic needs. For example, ads using sensory appeals generate higher levels of attention. •Use novel stimuli, such as unusual cinematography, sudden silences, or unexpected movements in commercials. When a British firm called Egg Banking introduced a credit card to the French market, its ad agency created unusual commercials to make people question their assumptions. One ad stated “Cats always land on their paws,” and then two researchers in white lab coats dropped a kitten off a rooftop—never to see it again (animal rights activists were not amused). •Use prominent stimuli, such as loud music and fast action, to capture attention in commercials. In print formats, larger ads increase attention. Also, viewers look longer at coloured pictures as opposed to black and white. •Include celebrity endorsers to generate higher interest in commercials. (We’ll discuss this strategy in later chapters.) •Build a bond with consumers by maintaining an ongoing relationship with them. Learn from the actions of tobacco companies that have figured out how to keep smokers’ loyalties (at least until they die). R. J. Reynolds Co. hosted nearly 3,700 Doral smokers at its factory for Western line dancing lessons, bowling, blackjack, and plenty of free cigarettes. Said one happy attendee, “I’d quit altogether before I’d change brands.” Now there’s a thought. 10. What is the difference between mood and emotion? Answer: Moods (positive, negative) involve temporary positive or negative affective states and are accompanied by moderate levels of arousal; emotions (happiness, anger, fear, etc.) on the other hand tend to be more intense and are often related to a specific triggering event. 11. How can emotion be used as information when making a purchase? Answer: Moods might be used by marketers to highlight the positive benefits of a product (i.e., will put you in a good mood), or to highlight that buying the product will help you avoid a bad mood (negative avoidance); marketers might also activate negative moods so that the consumer will be motivated to make themselves feel better by purchasing the product. 12. What is mood congruency and how can it be applied in an advertising context? Answer: Our judgments are often consistent with our existing mood state – so making people happy in an ad will potentially make them like the product more – these effects are not inevitable though, as consumers may reflect on the source of their mood and therefore moods will be most influential when there are relevant to the particular purchase decision. 13. Name two discrete emotions and explain how they have relevance in a consumption context Answer: Happiness; envy; guilt; embarrassment – these emotions are likely to cause differing experiences in consumption and may dictate approach or avoidance tendencies towards a product – for instance envy might result in negative attitudes, and guilt can be particularly compelling when others are present. 14. What strategies can consumers pursue to avoid embarrassment? Answer: To avoid embarrassment a consumer might hide embarrassing products, chose a specific cashier (e.g., based on gender or friendliness), or avoid purchasing altogether. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CHALLENGE Discussion Questions 1. Some consumers dislike ads that show starving children in Africa, because it makes them feel negative emotions such as sadness and guilt. What are your feelings on this type of promotional strategy? Is it manipulative to play on consumers’ emotional reactions in this context? Answer: Students perspectives will differ on this response as they debate the justification of manipulating consumers for firm outcomes. Ideally students will recognize that manipulating emotions such as guilt is an effective technique for compelling consumers. Using ads that show starving children to elicit sadness and guilt can be seen as manipulative, as it leverages strong emotions to compel donations or actions. While it raises awareness and can drive immediate responses, it may also lead to viewer fatigue or backlash. Ethical considerations include balancing emotional appeals with respect and sensitivity to the audience's emotional well-being. 2. “High involvement is just a fancy term for expensive.” Do you agree? Why or why not? Answer: If students have an inadequate understanding of involvement, it is likely that they will agree with this statement. What needs to be made clear is that the price of a product is only one potential determinant of product involvement. The instructor should stress the role that personal relevance of the product has for an individual, and point out that it is influenced by the person, the product, and the unique purchase/consumption situation. A good exercise would be for students to develop a list of items that they would classify as high involvement. Along with the list, they should provide price estimates for each item (or simply note them as "expensive" or "not expensive"). This type of display would illustrate the lack of association between involvement and price. No, high involvement is not just about expense. It refers to the level of personal relevance or risk associated with a purchase, which often requires extensive research and decision-making. While expensive items often involve high involvement, low-cost items can also be high involvement if they are crucial to the consumer’s lifestyle or identity. 3. Which of the needs in Maslow’s hierarchy do you satisfy when you participate in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter? How could these sites add new features to help you satisfy these needs? Answer: Students will have different answers to this question but most will agree that social networking sites provide participants with a way to meet their need to belong. For example, Ego needs, such as the need for prestige and status could also be met by demonstrating how many friends one has. Some students may find their self-actualization needs met by the enriching experience of interacting with others. These sites also help participants meet their safety needs through security features, such as privacy settings and tools. Students will have a variety of ideas on enhancements to social networking sites that will better meet their needs. Participating in social networks like Facebook and Twitter satisfies **social needs** (belongingness and connection) and **esteem needs** (self-image and recognition). To enhance satisfaction of these needs, these sites could add features like enhanced customization for personal profiles, advanced networking tools to foster deeper connections, and recognition systems that highlight user achievements or contributions. 4. Social marketing campaigns have encouraged the normalization of condom purchase in an effort to reduce the infection rate of sexually transmitted disease. As part of this strategy they have tried to reduce the embarrassment associated with buying condoms. Do you think this is an effective approach? Why or why not? Answer: Students are likely to agree that efforts to decrease the embarrassment young people might feel as a result of condom purchase will be at least somewhat effective – but not effective enough as a strategy on its own. Embarrassment in condom use exists surrounding not only the purchase stage of consumption, but at other stages as well. Students might also recognize that consumers have shown ways to adopt strategies to alleviate embarrassment, so many of those who are planning to buy condoms might be doing so despite some embarrassment. Yes, normalizing condom purchases by reducing embarrassment can be effective. By removing stigma, individuals may feel more comfortable buying condoms, which can lead to increased use and, consequently, a reduction in sexually transmitted infections. Addressing embarrassment directly encourages safer sexual practices and promotes public health. Experiential Exercises 5. Devise separate promotional strategies for an article of clothing, each of which stresses on the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Answer: Students should be encouraged to review Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, including physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. While their selection of clothing articles for this exercise may be diverse, there is likely to be some consistency within need categories. Examples include (1) the promotion of name brand/designer label clothing stressing consumers’ need to belong to a particular social group; (2) the promotion of warm and durable jackets or boots stressing consumer physiological need; (3) the promotion of protective equipment of amateur athletes (e.g., knee and elbow guards, helmets, and goggles) stressing consumer’s safety needs; (4) the promotion of elegant dress or a tux for esteem, (5) ‘anything you want to wear’ because clothes don’t matter that much to you. 1. Physiological Needs: Promote a jacket as essential for warmth in harsh weather, emphasizing comfort and protection from the elements. 2. Safety Needs: Highlight features like waterproofing and durability, ensuring buyers that the jacket will last and provide reliable protection. 3. Social Needs: Market the jacket as trendy and a must-have for social gatherings, leveraging influencer endorsements and style trends. 4. Esteem Needs: Position the jacket as a luxury item that enhances status, featuring exclusive designs and high-end materials to appeal to a sense of prestige and personal achievement. 6. Describe how a man’s level of involvement with his car would affect how he is influenced by different marketing stimuli. How might you design a strategy for a line of car batteries for a segment of low-involvement consumers, and how would this strategy differ from your attempts to teach a segment of men who are very involved in working on their cars? Answer: Different levels of involvement with a product influence the amount of attention paid to marketing stimuli, affecting the amount of cognitive processing capacity directed toward the stimuli (e.g., the product related information in an ad). In discussing the development of advertising targeted at low involvement consumers, students should recognize that peripheral cues are used in place of product-related information. Behaviours resulting from such cues do not last long and are likely to change over time. Conversely, developing advertising directed toward high involvement consumers will rely less on peripheral cues and more on substantial product-related information (i.e., the central route to persuasion). Behaviours resulting from this emphasis will be more resistant to change. (How many amps? How many minutes of reserve capacity? What are the cold cranking amps? What are the marine cranking amps?) 7. Interview members of a celebrity fan club. Describe their level of involvement with the ‘product’ and devise some marketing opportunities to reach this group. Answer: Student responses to this exercise might consider a variety of celebrities—movie stars, musicians, politicians - living and dead. They might be asked to consider the Elvis Presley fan club phenomenon in terms of the tremendous marketing opportunities that have derived from tours of his home in Memphis (Graceland), his personal property displayed in "museums" (guitars, clothing, music awards, etc.), his "signature" hairstyle and sideburns, other actors' and musicians' remakes of his movies and songs, television programs, Elvis parades, books, postage stamps, etc. (Possible Field Project). Members of a celebrity fan club typically exhibit **high involvement** with the celebrity, engaging deeply through social media, fan events, and exclusive merchandise. Marketing opportunities include creating limited-edition products, hosting exclusive fan events or virtual meet-and-greets, and leveraging personalized content that reinforces their strong emotional connection to the celebrity. CASE STUDY TEACHING NOTES 1) What do those that utilize online dating services want? What consumer needs do these services meet? Answer: Online dating services fill a basic human need for companionship. On the Maslow hierarchy it is termed a “belongingness and love need” which is realized through friendship and loving relationships. The discussion here can evolve into questioning how consumer’s needs are different in this regard. Online dating services provide different products depending on what consumer specifically want. Some consumers are looking simply for casual friendship whereas others are looking for a committed long-term relationship – i.e., marriage. Further, consumer might use these sites just for online interchange (e.g., texting/chatting) whereas others might seek in-person meetings and/or actual sexual intimacy. 2) What is an effective approach in building an online dating service? What is the challenges companies face in building a successful business model here? Answer: To build an effective online dating service in today’s competitive marketplace you need to provide something new and interesting to the consumer – i.e., meet their needs in a new way. For example, Tinder was successful in penetrating this competitive market by utilizing a very simply interaction with technology – swipe left/right – that caught the imagination of the consumer. As another example, JDate has been successful because it provides a product that is unique to a specific subculture (i.e., the Jewish community) and the product interface is directly tailored to this subculture’s needs. In both examples here the successful company provided something new and better to a consumer. Perhaps the biggest challenge to any organization looking to build a successful dating site is the obstacle of realizing critical mass with respect to the number of consumer using the site. A dating site needs both men and women (unless the site is targeting a same-sex population) and motivating consumer to try a new site or switch over is difficult. 3) What do you think of the chosen strategy that Frind has adopted here as POF faces new competition? Will this succeed or fail (given the changes in the marketplace)? Why? Answer: Through his actions, Frind is clarifying what value proposition POF is providing the consumer. He is reaffirming the integrity of the site with these new policies and clearly stating to the consumer that the POF site is about relationships – not hook-ups and other sexual oddities. Frind is gambling that by “cleaning-up” the membership and marginal activities on the site he will better attract consumers that are looking for a relationship. In some ways – he is looking to fire customers in the hopes that by doing so he will be more attractive to the customer he truly wants. The recent troubles with the dating website “Ashley Madison” indicates that this new strategy chosen by POF might be successful. The Ashley Madison site provides a stark contrast in product offering to what POF is seeking to achieve. Perhaps Frind can see success by effectively foiling what he is providing against other offerings that are not interested in quality relationships (e.g., Tinder, Grinder, Ashley Madison, etc.). 4) Imagine you were building a start-up internet dating service. What would you do? How would you motivate consumers to try your service? Answer: In this question students should be given the opportunity to be creative in their product offering. It is important to push students to think about what population of consumers they will target and what specific needs they will fulfill through their service. Further, it is good to question students on how their offering will stand out in a crowded and competitive marketplace. It is also useful to ask them how they will inspire trial – e.g., will they offer freemium services, will they utilize price promotions, or will they count on viral outcomes that might be seeded by an initial promotional stunt. To launch a start-up internet dating service, I'd focus on unique features like personalized matchmaking algorithms and user-friendly interfaces. To motivate consumers, I'd offer free trials, highlight success stories through testimonials, and leverage social proof with influencer endorsements. Engaging marketing campaigns and incentives like referral bonuses could also attract users. FIELD PROJECT IDEAS Individual Assignments 1. Assign students the task of finding a couple of ads that seem to have indirect appeal to latent motives. Ask students to show the class the ads and point out the indirect appeals. Does the class agree? Do they see other latent motives? Answer: Indirect Appeal Ads: Students find ads with subtle emotional appeals, such as aspirational lifestyle ads for luxury cars or eco-friendly products. They should present these ads and discuss how they tap into latent motives like status or environmental concern. The class can then analyze if they agree or identify other latent motives. 2. Ask students to have 10 people describe the personality of one of the products listed below or another product. How are the descriptions similar? How are they different? (Possible products: light or foreign beer, Macintosh computer, Corvette, your college or university, Crest, a favourite local restaurant or pub) Answer: Product Personality Descriptions: Students interview 10 people about the personality of products like a Macintosh computer or a Corvette. They should compare the similarities and differences in perceptions, noting how factors like branding or user experience influence these descriptions. 3. See if your students know someone who is a member of a celebrity fan club. If not, try to locate a local fan club and interview one of its members. Ask the club member to describe his/her level of involvement with the celebrity. What types of products would members of this group want to own? Answer: Celebrity Fan Club Interview: Find a local fan club member and discuss their deep involvement with the celebrity, such as attending events or buying exclusive merchandise. Explore what specific products or experiences they value most, such as limited-edition memorabilia or personalized fan interactions. 4. Tell the class about products or services you have purchased that fit the three types of Motivational Conflicts. Answer: Motivational Conflicts: Share personal experiences of products or services purchased that illustrate approach-approach (e.g., choosing between two appealing vacations), approach-avoidance (e.g., buying a high-cost gadget with mixed feelings), and avoidance-avoidance conflicts (e.g., deciding between two undesirable but necessary expenses). Team Assignments 5. Have members of a club or society analyze how members of their organization are following Maslow's Hierarchy in their purchases. (Different products can be used to demonstrate the various motives.) Answer: Maslow’s Hierarchy in Club Purchases: Club members analyze how their purchases reflect different levels of Maslow's hierarchy. For example, they might buy branded gear for social belonging (social needs) or high-quality equipment for personal achievement (esteem needs). This analysis reveals how consumer behavior aligns with hierarchical needs. 6. Ask a team of students to observe a table of people eating. See if they can identify any of the major motives at work. Have them report on their conclusions. [Hint: Watch the respondents' behaviour while they eat and during their conversation. Perhaps they might like to videotape part of the meal] Answer: Motives at a Meal: Students observe diners to identify motives such as social interaction (social needs) or health consciousness (safety needs). They report on behaviors like choosing healthy options or engaging in group conversations, potentially using video for detailed analysis. 7. Have the class keep a diary of their consumer decisions for a two-day period. (Make sure they include both actual purchases and conscious decisions not to buy.) At the end of the period have them review their diaries and classify their apparent motives. (Maslow's scheme may be useful here.) Answer: Consumer Diary: Students keep a two-day diary of all consumer decisions, including both purchases and abstentions. Afterward, they categorize these decisions based on Maslow’s hierarchy, identifying if choices were driven by physiological needs, safety, social belonging, esteem, or self-actualization. Individual or Team Assignments 8. Ask students to sit down and see if they can come up with a list of products or services that people buy primarily because they want to "belong." Have them explain why they listed the particular items. Answer: Belonging Products: Students list items like branded clothing, team merchandise, or membership clubs, explaining that these products foster a sense of community and identity. For instance, a sports team jersey helps individuals feel connected to a group. 9. Have students or teams find advertisements that attempt to persuade consumers to think of products as objects that satisfy one of the motives described in this chapter. Have them identify and classify that motive. Answer: Motivational Ads: Students find ads that address motives like safety, esteem, or social belonging. For example, a luxury car ad may appeal to esteem motives by showcasing exclusivity and status. They should classify the motive being targeted and explain how the ad appeals to it. 10. Ask students to each find a print ad that appeals to each level of Maslow's hierarchy. (Make sure they coordinate their activities so you'll have all five levels.) Have students explain why their ad appeals to this level. Ask why they think the firm selected this particular appeal. Answer: Maslow’s Ads: Students find print ads for each level of Maslow’s hierarchy: physiological needs (e.g., food), safety (e.g., insurance), social belonging (e.g., social media), esteem (e.g., luxury brands), and self-actualization (e.g., travel experiences). They explain how each ad appeals to its specific level and why the firm chose that approach. 11. Either collect a sample of ads or have your students do so that appear to appeal to consumers' emotions. Ask them what emotion is being compelled in each and how this is done. See if they think this is an effective approach to designing a marketing communication. Answer: Emotional Ads: Collect ads that evoke emotions such as happiness, fear, or nostalgia. Students analyze the specific emotion targeted and the techniques used, such as imagery or storytelling, and evaluate the effectiveness of these emotional appeals in marketing. eLAB Individual Assignments 1. Go to www.worldvision.org. World Vision helps fight world hunger through aid, child nutrition, and agricultural solutions around the world. What is their mission? What indications are there about the organization using emotions to appeal to consumers? How might this help the organization market products? Answer: World Vision: Their mission is to alleviate global poverty and hunger through aid, nutrition, and agricultural support. They use emotional appeals by showcasing personal stories and images of children in need, which helps generate empathy and encourages donations, thus effectively marketing their initiatives. 2. Go to www.burton.com. How does this website attempt to motivate consumers to try the sport and Burton products? Be specific with the description of strategies that Burton uses. Do you think the Burton approach is effective? Explain. Answer: Burton: The Burton website motivates consumers through engaging content, such as inspiring videos and testimonials from athletes, interactive product features, and detailed guides on snowboarding. These strategies create excitement and appeal, making the approach effective by enhancing the user’s connection to the sport and products. 3. Go to www.vans.com. Find the link for creating your own custom pair of Vans shoes. Go through the process and print an example of your shoes to take in to class and share. Describe the experience. Did the experience contribute to the level of involvement in shopping for such a product? Answer: Vans Custom Shoes: The customization process allows users to design their own pair of Vans shoes by choosing colors, patterns, and materials. This interactive experience increases personal involvement and investment in the product, enhancing the overall shopping experience and attachment to the final product. 4. Go to www.specialized.com. Specialized Bicycles is one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of all types of bikes. Browse their website. Give a brief description of their different product lines. How does Specialized motivate consumers to get into biking? Are there any value statements made (either directly or indirectly)? Explain. What might Specialized do to improve the “motivation” aspect of their site (you might want to compare it to the Burton Snowboard site discussed previously)? Answer: Specialized Bicycles: Their website features various bike lines, including road, mountain, and e-bikes. They motivate consumers by highlighting performance, innovation, and lifestyle benefits. Value statements emphasize quality and passion for cycling. To improve motivation, Specialized could enhance interactive features, like virtual test rides or user-generated content, similar to Burton’s engaging approach. eLAB Team Assignment 1. Go to www.moodpanda.com. What service does this organization offer? How might it be useful to consumers? Marketers? Answer: Moodpanda: This service allows users to track their mood and mental well-being over time. It helps consumers monitor emotional health and provides insights for personal improvement. For marketers, it offers data on mood trends that can be used to tailor marketing strategies or develop wellness products. PROFESSORS ON THE GO! Chapter Objectives
When students finish this chapter they should understand why: •It’s important for marketers to recognize that products satisfy a range of consumer needs Ask students to come up with a list of products or services that people primarily buy because they want to “belong.” Have them explain why they listed the particular items. Then, have them explain how each of the items that they listed might also be consumed by individuals in solitude. Are there viable needs that consumers have for consuming these products both in the company of others as well as by themselves? •There are different theories that can predict what will motivate consumers Ask students to search for unconscious motives by asking six people if they are wearing perfume or cologne. Make sure the student keeps asking until at least three people say, “Yes.” Then have the student ask the respondents, “Why do you wear cologne?” Ask three of those who said they were not wearing cologne, “Why not?” Ask the three who said, “No” if they wore any the last time they were on a date. Share their responses with the class and evaluate them. Can the class uncover any hidden motivations? Have students find advertisements that attempt to persuade consumers to think of products as objects that satisfy one of the motives described in this chapter. Have them identify and classify that motive. •Consumers can experience different types of motivational conflicts, and these can impact purchase decisions Have students think of examples of products or services that each of them has purchased that fit the three types of motivational conflicts. •Maslow’s hierarchy outlines how various levels of needs can motivate consumers Have students think of products they use that fulfill their needs based on the hierarchy. Are there any needs that don’t fit into this framework that they feel their products fulfill? •The way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our involvement with the product, the marketing message, and/or the purchase situation Have students think of some product or service they have purchased recently. Then have them respond to the consumer involvement scale. Is their involvement with this product best described as product involvement, message- response involvement, or purchase situation involvement? Why? Have the group go to a shopping center or mall and observe others’ behaviour. What conclusions can they make about motives, involvement, and emotions after having made the observation? Have groups of students visit a shopping mall or a superstore. Have them evaluate the retail environment for ways that both the retailer and product manufacturers try to increase consumer involvement (refer to text if necessary for strategies to increase involvement). •Consumers can experience different types of affective responses, which can influence consumption behaviours Have students visit www.moodpanda.com. What service does this organization offer? How might it be useful to consumers? Marketers? •Marketers can tap into various discrete emotions to influence consumers Have students bring in advertisement that apply least 3 different discrete emotions. How do the advertisements make the students feel? Are they effective? ENDNOTES i For an ethnographic account of sky-diving as voluntary high-risk consumption activity, see Richard L. Celsi, Randall L. Rose, and Thomas W. Leigh, "An Exploration of High-Risk Leisure Consumption Through Skydiving," Journal of Consumer Research 20 (June 1993): 1-23. Also, Jerry Adler, "Been There, Done That," Newsweek (July 19, 1993): 43 (7). For an empirical treatment of river rafting as a "high involvement" activity, see Eric J. Arnould and Linda L. Price, "River Magic: Extraordinary Experience and the Extended Service Encounter," Journal of Consumer Research 20 (June 1993) 1: 24-45. ii For a study that equates the learning of marketing information with the processing of trivia, see Scott A. Hawkins and Stephen J. Hoch, “Low-Involvement Learning: Memory Without Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research 19 (September 1992): 212-25. iii Ronald C. Goodstein, "Category-Based Applications and Extensions in Advertising: Motivating More Extensive Ad Processing," Journal of Consumer Research 20 (June 1993): 87-99. Joan Meyers-Levy and Alice M. Tybout, "Schema Congruity As a Basis for Product Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research 16 (June 1989): 39 54; Douglas M. Stayman, Dana L. Alden, and Karen H. Smith, “Some Effects of Schematic Processing on Consumer Expectations and Disconfirmation Judgments," Journal of Consumer Research 19 (September 1992): 240-55. iv Leisa Reinecke Flynn and Ronald E. Goldsmith, "Models of Enduring Product Involvement and Opinion Leadership," Association of Marketing Theory and Practice (Spring 1993): 378-386. Solution Manual for Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being Michael R. Solomon, Katherine White, Darren W. Dahl 9780133958096