Analysis of the relationship between motivation and consumer behaviour
Discuss about the Understand Consumer Behaviour On Ethical Issues.
Consumer behaviour can be defined as the study that of the individuals, the groups or the organizations and all the activities that are related to the purchase of services and goods. The study also includes the analysis of the mental, emotional, behavioural responses that are related to the purchasing activities of the consumers. The study of consumer behaviour blends elements from various fields like, sociology, psychology, ethnography, behavioural economics and economics. The concept of consumer behaviour thereby examines the ways by which the attitudes, emotions and the preferences of the consumers affect their buying behaviour. Motivation on the other hand can be defined as the activated state which leads to the goal directed type of behaviour of the individuals (Borgardt, 2017). The process of motivation thereby determines the ways by which the people are led to the ways by which they behave in the industry towards the different types of products. The needs that are related to the high levels of motivation are utilitarian need and hedonic need. Goal is further related to the end state that is desired by the consumers.
The essay will be based on the analysis of the effects that motivation has on the behaviour of the consumers towards the various products that are offered to them. Motivation plays an important role in the ways by which the consumers behave in the industry. The levels of motivation help them to decide the products or the services that they wish to purchase.
The role that is played by motivation in the behaviour of the consumers is well-established in the industry. Motivation is considered to be a driving force behind the perception of the consumers regarding various services and products. The motivation related perspective is however not incorporated in the brand management related activities of the organizations. Motivation is considered to be a driving force behind the various activities that are conducted by the consumers regarding the purchase of services or products (Solomon et al., 2014). The concept of motivation is considered to be the energization or activation of goal-oriented behaviour. Motivation can be rooted within the basic needs of the consumers. Positive motivation can lead to the type of behaviour that is depicted by the consumers and the ways by which they respond to the services or the products offered by the organizations. Motivation has a dynamic nature as the needs are never satisfied fully, new needs are developed when the old needs are fulfilled successfully (Parsons, Maclaran & Chatzidakis, 2017). The people are also able to achieve the goals and they set new goals. Motivation is considered to be an inner drive which reflects that goal-directed arousal or behaviour of the consumers. The model of Maslow’s Need of Hierarchy can be implemented for the purpose of analysing the needs of the consumers and their behaviour as well. The core needs of the consumers can be analysed with the help of this model (East et al., 2016).
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy and Consumer Behaviour
The marketers and the various advertising agencies spend a lot of time in the determination of the ways by which they can motivate the consumers and change their behaviour. The motivation levels of the individual customers are quite different from each other. However, there some common factors that are able to affect the levels of motivation that can be provided to the customers of the organizations. The safety related issues of the products or the services that are offered by the companies can affect the levels of motivation and ways by which the consumers behave towards the product. For example, the consumers who are thinking of purchasing various food products are highly concerned about the safety issues of the products (Rani, 2014). The conscious and the unconscious choices made by the consumers are related to the motivation levels. The unconscious choice of the consumers is exploited by the marketers with the help of manipulative elements that are present in the marketing related activities. The unconscious drives of the employees and the conscious awareness of the price of the products, the product quality are exploited by the marketers in an effective manner. The culture, upbringing and the background of the employees also affect the behaviour of the consumers (Finney, 2014). The cultures that are followed by the consumers are self-enforcing motivators and this factor is related to the choice of products made by the consumers. The marketing related activities of the organizations also play a major role in the product choice of the consumers. The advertisements that are formulated by the various organizations are straightforward demonstration of the products that are the company aims to offer to the consumers. The behaviour of the consumers is largely affected by the advertisements of the brands and the products (Gunter & Furnham, 2014).
Motivation of the consumers is related to the inner drive which reflects the goal-directed arousal. In the context related to consumer behaviour the results are related to their desire for a service, product or an experience. This is further related to the drive which satisfies the wants and the needs, which can be psychological and physiological through purchase and usage of the services and products. The five stages of motivation process are, latent need, drive, desire or want, goal and behaviour. The behavioural models of the motivation is based on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Javornik, 2016). The five types of needs according to the Maslow’s model are as follows,
The Role of Marketers in Motivating Consumers
The physiological needs are based on the basic needs of water, air, food, shelter and clothing. In the other words, the physiological needs are related to basic amenities that are required for life. The behaviour of the consumers are also based on the fulfilment of these needs by the organizations.
The safety related needs include, environment, physical and emotional protection and safety. These needs to be fulfilled by the organizations so that they are able to influence the behaviour of the consumers (Moschis, 2017).
The next level refers to the needs of the people related to affection, love, care, friendship and belongingness. The social needs should be fulfilled by the marketers and the organizations so that their behaviour can be influenced in an effective manner.
Self-esteem needs are mainly of two types internal esteem needs and the external esteem needs. The internal needs include, self-respect, competence, confidence, freedom and the achievement. The external needs include, power, recognition, attention, status and admiration. This level of needs should also be fulfilled by the marketers of the organization so that they are able to increase the customer base (Srivastava & Chopra, 2016).
Self-actualization needs – These needs include the urge for becoming what a person is capable to become. The potential of the people is mainly recognised with the help of this level of needs. The desire to gain higher levels of knowledge is also related to the social-service and creativity of the people. The self-actualization needs should also be fulfilled by the marketers of various organizations. These needs of the consumers however continue to change with time (Dootson et al., 2016).
The conflicts related to motivation are also based on the behaviour of the consumers with respect to the ways by which they react towards the products. The theory of cognitive dissonance is a state of tension which occurs when the beliefs or the behaviours conflict with each other. The cognitive dissonance reduction refers to the process with which the people are motivated so that they are able to reduce the tension that exists between the behaviours or the beliefs. These conflicts need to be considered by the marketers before they plan to offer a particular type of product to the consumers (Ulph, Panzone & Hilton, 2017).
The decision and behaviour of the consumers are also influenced by the factors like, social surroundings, physical surroundings, time, mood and mind set. The motivation levels of these consumers are thereby influenced highly by these factors. The consumers tend to take the decision related to the purchase of the product based on the external environment in which they live.
Cognitive Dissonance and Consumer Behaviour
The two classes of cognitive needs that are identified by Maslow are, the desire to understand and know which refers to process of searching for a meaning in the various things around the consumers (Chintakayala & Young, 2017). This is considered to be a precondition to satisfaction of the basic needs. The aesthetic needs of the consumers were also defined by Maslow which is related to the need for beauty or presentation of the products to the consumers in such a manner so that it can appeal to them.
The various theories of motivation which are interrelated to the behaviour of the consumers in an organization are, psychoanalytic theory, the gestalt theory, the cognitive theory (Grace, Lee & Sirgy, 2016).
The psychoanalytic theory of motivation is related to the irrational people who lack over their behaviour. This theory is mainly related to the disturbed minds which are mainly dominated by three different forces which are, Id, Superego and ego. Id is related to the free mechanism which is present in the minds of the humans from their birth. This force thereby prompts the individuals to take aggressive types of actions. The superego on the other hand leads to the individual performing all the duties that are related to the norms or the moral standards that are followed by them (Thakur, 2016). The third force is the ego which creates a balance between the two extreme forces and leads to the rational behaviour that is depicted by these people. The consumers will be thereby influenced by the levels of ego or superego that is present in them Grace, Lee & Sirgy, 2016).
Subconscious motivation also plays an important role in the behaviour that is depicted by the consumers. The consumers try to use the various defence mechanisms to resolve the various conflicts that can occur that are explained by the psychoanalytic theory. The consumers in this case can use four different types of defence mechanisms which are, displacement, regression, identification and progression (Torelli & Rodas, 2016).
The greatest steps that are related to finding out the ways by which the consumers can behave are made with the help of motivational research. The research into the motivation of consumers thereby lets the marketers to analyse major motives which can influence the consumers which leads to take the purchase related decisions. The motives that are related to the subconscious minds of the consumers cannot be measured by the marketers of the organizations (Yan & Ke, 2015). The marketers thereby cannot reveal the motives of the consumers by just asking questions. The marketers need to undertake structured research related to the motives of the consumers. The marketing executives are not always able to infer motivation from the behaviour of the consumers in a direct manner.
Conclusion
The behaviour of the consumers towards the products that are offered by the organizations is important for the purpose of analysing the needs and the demands for these products. The consumer behaviour based study helps the managers or the marketers to create services and products that are suitable for the operations of the company (Wiese & Kruger, 2016).
The behaviour of the consumers is important to the managers of the organizations in the modern business environment. The consideration of the likes and the dislikes of the consumers is important for the success of the services and the products that are offered to them. The marketers therefore need to study the behaviour of the consumers as individuals or as groups (Torelli & Rodas, 2016). The trends that are followed by the customers and the ways by which they tend to share their experience is related to the appropriate study of their behaviour by the marketers. Motivation plays an important role in this case which is provided to the customers by the marketers of the organizations (Yan & Ke, 2015). The ways by which the marketers are able to motivate the customers to take their purchase related decision helps in building the revenues of the company in an effective manner.
The marketers of the 21st century need to be aware of the ways by which they are able to understand the behaviour of the consumers in an effective manner. The marketers can determine the behaviour of the consumers with the help of some of consumer behaviour models (Wiese & Kruger, 2016).
The theory of reasoned action is one such model which helps in determining the importance of the previous attitudes of the consumers for the purpose of determining the decision-making process. The core of this theory suggests that the consumers act on a type of behaviour which is based on the intention for creating or receiving some outcome. The factor related to specificity is important for the decision making process of the consumers related to the products or the services that are provided to them. The Engel, Kollet, Blackwell Model further states that the various steps by which the consumers are able to absorb the marketing material (Shareef, Dwivedi & Kumar, 2016). The first step is related to the ways by which the consumers absorb the marketing based materials. The consumer collet data related to the products and then the decisions are taken related to purchase. The Need Theory based on motivation that has been suggested by Maslow is also used by the marketers to understand the needs of the customers based on a five steps framework. The motivation theory is thereby directly linked to the needs and the wants of the customers and the purchase related decisions that are taken by them (Onel & Mukherjee, 2015).
Conclusion
The essay has helped in the analysis of the relationship that is developed between the behaviour of the consumers and the motivation levels of the organizations. The ways by which the organizations are able to motivate and influence the decisions of the consumers are analysed in the essay. The various need based theories that are used by the marketers of the organizations to understand the needs and the demands of the consumers are discussed in the analysis. The ways by which motivation can help in the decision making process of the consumers is analysed in the essay in an effective manner. The various factors that influence the decisions of the consumers related to the purchase of the services and the products are discussed in the essay in detail with the help of various motivation theories. The discussion in the essay has proved that motivation plays a significant role in providing the highest level of motivation to the consumers. The decisions that are made by the consumers are affected by the various motivation related factors. These factors help in deciding the ways by which the marketers can further plan to influence the buyers and to take their decisions accordingly. The theories related consumer behaviour are able to decide the buying pattern and the ways by which the consumers react to the services that are offered to them. This helps the marketers to offer the consumers with the best possible products.
References
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