CONSUMER MOTIVATION AND INVOLVEMENT

INTRODUCTION
The chief characteristic of the human actions is that each and every part if it
is guided by motives: conscious or otherwise. A successful marketer
understands the motives and "shapes them".
THE CONCEPT AND TYPOLOGY OF NEEDS
Consumer motivation and involvement is based primarily on the notions of
consumer needs and wantsConcept The concept of need and its typology
has a long history and but the terms need, want and demand are used in the
similar context. Thus, the particular form of consumption used to satisfy a
need is termed a want. The specific way a need satisfied depends upon the
individual's unique history, learning experiences, and his or her cultural
environment.
Types of Needs
People are born with a need for certain elements necessary to maintain life,
such a food water, air and shelter. These are called biogenic needs. People
have many other needs, however, that are not innate. Psychogenic needs
are, acquired in the process of becoming a member of a culture. These
include the need for status, power, affiliation, and so on.
THEORIES OF CONSUMER NEEDS
Much research has been done on classifying human needs. On the one hand,
some psychologists have tried to define a universal inventory of needs
that could be traced systematically to explain virtually all behaviour that
promise to accentuate a consumer's distinctive qualities.
d) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: One widely accepted approach to
motivation was proposed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow's
approach is a general one originally developed to understand personal
growth and the attainment of "peak experiences." Maslow formulated a
hierarchy of needs, in which levels of motives are specified. A hierarchical
approach implies that the order of development is fixed-that is, a certain
level must be attained before the next, higher one is activate. This
universal approach to motivation has been adapted by marketers because
it (indirectly) specifies certain types of product benefits people might be
looking for, depending upon the different stages in their development
and/or their environmental conditions.
These levels are summarized in Figure. At each level, different priorities exist
in terms of the
 product benefits a consumer is looking for. Ideally, an individual
progresses up the hierarchy until his or her dominant motivation is a focus
on "ultimate" goals, such as justice and beauty. Unfortunately, this state is
difficult to achieve (at least on a regular basis, most of us have to be
satisfied with occasional glimpses, or peak experiences.
e) The implication of Maslow's hierarchy is that one must first satisfy basic
needs before progressing up the ladder (i.e., a starving man is not
interested in status symbols, friendship, or self-fulfillment). This hierarchy
should however not be seen as inflexible. Its use in marketing has been
somewhat simplistic, especially since the same product or activity can
satisfy a number of different needs Indeed, this activity could conceivably
fit into every level of Maslow's hierarchy. Another problem with taking
Maslow's hierarchy too literally is that it is culture-bound. The assumptions
of the hierarchy may be restricted to Western culture. Similarly, may
eastern cultures operate on the premise that the welfare of the group
(belongingness needs) are more highly valued than needs of the
individual (esteem needsThe point is that this hierarchy, while widely
applied in marketing, should be valued because it reminds us that
consumers may have different need priorities at different time (i.e., you
have to walk before you can run) rather than because it exactly specifies
a consumer's progression up the ladder of needs.

MOTIVES: THE BASIS OF MOTIVATION

A motive is an underlying reason for behaviour and not something
researchers can see or easily measure. Furthermore, the same behavior can
be caused by a number of different motives. To compound the problem of
identifying motives, the consumer may be unaware of the actual need he or
she is attempting to satisfy, or alternatively he or she may not be willing to
admit that this need exists. Because of these difficulties, motives usually
must be inferred by the analyst. To the contrary, people may do things to
satisfy motives of which they are not even aware.
THE CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION
Motivation refers to `the processes that cause 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 tension. Marketers try to create
products and services that will provide the desired benefits and permit the
consumer to reduce this tension, by going in for consumption or acquisition of
the products/services.

Figure gives an overview of the motivation process. The sections to follow

will elaborate on the components in this model, but in general the process
works the way as described below.
Alternatively motivation has been defined as the inner drive in individuals
which impels them to action
Goal
A need is recognized by the consumer. This need may be utilitarian (i.e., a
desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit, as when a person
requires a pair of durable sneakers) or it may be hedonic (i.e., an experiential
need, involving emotional responses or fantasies). The desired state is the
consumer's goal.
Drive
In either case, a discrepancy exists between the consumer's present state
and some ideal state. This gulf creates a state of tension. The magnitude of
this tension determines the urgency the consumer feels to reduce the
tension. This degree of arousal is called a drive.
Want
As mentioned earlier, a basic need can be satisfied any number of ways, and
the specific path a person chooses is influenced by his or her unique set of
experiences, cultural upbringing, and so on. These factors combine to create
a want, which is one, manifestation of a need.
Theories of Motivation
There are several principles on which the motivation theory is based. Some of
them are explained below:
Instinct Theory of Motivation
Early work on motivation ascribed behaviour to instinct-the innate
patterns of behaviour that are universal in species. This view is now
largely discredited. For one thing, the existence of an instinct is difficult to
prove or disprove. It is like saying that a consumer buys status symbols
because he or she is motivated to attain status, which is hardly a
satisfying explanation.
Drive Theory
 Drive theory focusses on biological needs that produce unpleasant states
of arousal We are motivated to reduce the tension caused by this arousal.
Tension reduction has been proposed as a basic mechanism governing
human behaviour. In marketing, tension refers to the.unpleasant state
that exists if a person's consumption needs are not fulfilled..This state
activates goal-oriented behavior, which attempts to reduce or eliminate
this unpleasant state and return to a balanced one, is termed
homeostasis.
Drive theory, however, runs into difficulties when it tries to explain some
facets of human behaviour that run counter to its predictions. People often
do things that increase a drive state rather than decrease it.
Expectancy Theory
Most current explanations of motivation focus on cognitive factors rather
than biological ones to understand what drives behaviour. Expectancy theory
suggests that behaviour is largely pulled by expectations of achieving
desirable outcomes - positive incentives, rather than pushed from within. We
choose one product over another because we expect this choice to have
more positive consequences for us. Thus the term drive is used here more
loosely to refer to both physical and cognitive processes.
Motivational Strength
Once the goal is attained, tension is reduced and the motivation recedes (for
the time being). Motivation can be described in terms of its strength, or the
pull it exerts on the consumer, and its direction, or the particular way the
consumer attempts to reduce motivational tension. MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH
is "the degree to which a person is willing to expend energy to reach one goal
as opposed to another". It reflects his or her underlying motivation to attain
that goal. Many theories have been advanced to explain why people behave
the way they do. Most share the basic idea that people have some finite
amount of energy that must be directed toward certain goals.
Motivational Direction
Motives have direction as well as strength. They are goal-oriented in that
specific objectives are desired to satisfy a need. Most goals can be reached by
a number of routes, and the objective of marketers is to convince consumers
that the alternative they offer provides the best chance to attain the goal.
MOTIVATIONAL CONFLICT'S

A purchase decision may involve more than one source of motivation.

Consumers often find themselves in situations where different motives, both
positive and negative, conflict with one another, since marketers are
attempting to satisfy consumers' needs, they can also be helpful by providing
possible solutions to these dilemmas
. As shown in Figure three general types of conflicts can occur: approach-
approach, approach-avoidance, and avoidance-avoidance.
Approach-Approach Conflict
Here, a person must choose between two desirable alternative. A student
might be torn between going home for the holidays or going on with friends for
a sightseeing trip.
Approach-Avoidance Conflict
Many of the product and services we desire have negative consequences
attached to them as well. Many marketers try to overcome guilt by
convincing consumers that they are deserving of luxuries.
The conflict of this kind gives rise to another consumer behaviour concept,
called cognitive dissonance. 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. A state of dissonance occurs when there is a logical
inconsistency between two or more beliefs or behaviours. It often occurs
when a consumer must make a choice between two products, where both
alternatives usually possess both good and bad qualities. By choosing one
product and not the other, the person gets the bad qualities of the chosen
product and loses out on the good qualities of the unchosen one. This loss
creates an unpleasant, dissonant state that the person is motivated to
reduce.
The conflict that arises when choosing between two alternatives may be
resolved through a process of cognitive dissonance reduction, in which
people are motivated to reduce this inconsistency (or dissonance) and thus,
eliminate unpleasant tension. People tend to convince themselves after the
fact that the choice they made was the smart one by finding additional
reasons to support the alternative they chose, or perhaps by "discovering"
flaws with the option they did not choose. A marketer can resolve an
approach-avoidance conflict by bundling several benefits together.
Avoidance--Avoidance Conflict
Sometimes consumers find themselves caught "between a rock and hard place."
They may face a choice with two undesirable alternatives. A person may be faced
with the option of either throwing more money into an old car or buying a new
car. Marketers frequently address this conflict by message that stress the
unforeseen benefits of choosing one option (e.g., by emphasizing lease finance
or easy payment plans to ease the pain of new-car payments). Similarly, the
problem of remaining unemployed or taking up a job which is either life
threatening or socially low. Medicine buying is another example of this type of
conflict.
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
Along with the concept of motivation, involvement is another concept which
central to activating consumer motives. Involvement refers to "the level of
perceived personal importance and/or interest evoked by a stimulus (or
stimuli) within a specific situation". This definition implies that aspects of the
person, the product, and the situation all combine to determine the
consumer's motivation to process product related information at a given
point in time. When consumers are intent on doing what they can to satisfy a
need, they will be motivated to pay attention and process any information
felt to be relevant to achieving their goals. On the other hand, a person may
not bother to pay any attention to the same information it is not seen as
relevant to satisfying some need. One person who prides himself on his
knowledge of exercise equipment may read anything he can find about the
subject, spend his spare time in athletics stores, and so on, while another
(lazier) person may skip over this information without giving it a second
thought. Involvement can be viewed as the motivation to process
information. To the degree that there is a perceived linkage between a
consumer’s needs, goals, or values, and product knowledge, the consumer
will be motivated to pay attention to product information. When relevant
knowledge is activated in memory, a motivational state is created that drives
behaviour (e.g., shopping}. This subjective feeling of personal relevance is
termed felt involvement. As felt involvement with a product increases, people
devote more attention to ads related to the product, exert more cognitive
effort to understand these ads, and focus their attention on the product-
related information in them.
Degree of involvement can be conceived as a continuum, ranging from
absolute lack of interest in a marketing stimulus at one end to obsession at
the other. Consumption of the low end of involvement is characterized by
inertia, where decisions are made out of habit because the consumer lacks
the motivation to consider alternatives. At the high end of involvement, we
can expect to find the type of passionate intensity reserved for people and
objects that carry great meaning to the individual.
Involvement also affects the information processing and activation. Thus, type of
information processing depends upon the consumer's level of involvement. It can
range from simple processing, where only the basic features of a message are
considered to the one all the way to elaboration, where the incoming information
is linked to one's preexisting knowledge systems.
THE FACETS OF INVOLVEMENT
As previously defined, involvement can take many forms. A consumer could
certainly be said to be involved with a pair of running shoes if they help to
define and bolster his self-concept. This involvement seems to increase at
certain times, as when he must prove himself in a competition. Types of
Involvement
It seems that involvement is a fuzzy concept, because it overlaps with other
things and means different things to different people. Indeed, the consensus
is that there are actually several broad types of involvement.
a) Purchase Involvement. Purchase involvement is related to a consumer's
level of interest in the buying process that is triggered by the need to
 consider a particular purchase. Many sales promotions are designed to
increase purchase involvement..
b) Message-Response Involvement. Message-response involvement
refers to the processing of marketing communication. Television is
considered a low involvement medium, because it requires a passive
viewer who exerts relatively little control (remote control "zipping"
notwithstanding) over content. In contrast, print is high-involvement
medium. The reader is actively involved in processing the information and
is able to pause and reflect on what he or she has read before moving on.
c) Ego Involvement. Ego involvement, sometimes termed enduring
involvement, refers to the importance of a product to a consumer's self-
concept. This concept implies a high level of social risk, the prospect of
the product not performing its desired function may result in
embarrassment or damage to the consumer's self-concept. For example,
the consumer's running shoes are clearly an important part of his self-
identity (i.e., they are said to have high sign value). This type of
involvement is independent of particular purchase situations.
5.8.2 Measuring Involvement
The measurement of involvement is important for many marketing
applications. For example, research evidence indicates that a viewer who is
more involved with a television show, will also respond more positively to
commercials contained in that show, and that these spots will have a greater
chance of influencing his or her purchase intentions. The many
conceptualizations of involvement have led to some confusion about the best
way to measure the concept.

The scale shown in Table 2 is

one widely used method.
Development of Involvement Profile
A pair of French researchers have argued that no single component of
involvement is predominant. Recognizing that consumers can be involved
with a product because it is a risky purchase and/or its use reflects upon or
affects the self, they advocate the development of an involvement profile
containing four components.
a) Importance and risk (the perceived importance of the product and the
consequences of bad purchase) ,b) Probability of making a bad
purchase ,c) Pleasure value of the product category
d) Sign value of the product category
Segmenting by Involvement Levels A measurement approach of this
nature allows consumer researchers to capture the diversity of the
involvement construct, and it also provides the potential to use involvement
as a basis for market segmentation.. The company could adapt its strategy to
account for the motivation of different segments to process information about
the product. Strategies to Increase Involvement Although consumers
differ in their level of involvement with respect to a product message,
marketers do not have to just sit back and hope for the best. By being aware
of some basic factors that increase or decrease attention, they can take steps
to increase the likelihood that information will get through. A consumer's
motivation to process relevant information can be enhanced fairly easily by
the marketer who uses one or mare of the techniques as mentioned in this
section, when designing persuasive communications