Psychological Influence
on Consumer Behavior-
II
Unit 4
Self-Concept and self-image
• Self-image represents the way a person views herself or himself
• Consumer behavior researchers identified four components of self-image:
• Actual self-image is the way consumers see themselves
• Ideal self-image is the way consumers would like to see themselves
• Social self-image is how consumers feel others see them; and
• Ideal social self-image is how consumers would like others to see them
*consumers select the type of self-image that guides them in the context of
buying situations
The Extended self
• Consumers’ possessions can confirm or extend their self-images
• Researchers suggested that possessions or extensions of self in the following
ways:
• Actually, by allowing the person to do things that otherwise would be very
difficult or impossible to accomplish
• Symbolically, by making the person feel better (e.g., being considered best
dressed at work)
• Conferring status or rank, (e.g., being an art collector and owning a rare and
well-known masterpiece)
• Feelings of immortality by leaving valuable bequests after death
Altering the Self
• Sometimes consumers wish to change or improve their selves
• Personal vanity is closely related to both self-image and alteration of the self
• Researchers have discovered two types of vanity:
• Physical vanity: excessive concern with or inflated view of one’s physical
appearance
• Achievement vanity: excessive concern with or inflated view of one’s
personal achievements
Using Self-Concept to Position Products
Consumers’ needs and motivation
• Motivation is the driving force that impels people to act. It represents the reasons
has for acting or behaving in a particular way
• Motivation is the reason for behavior
• Needs are circumstances or things that are required, and they direct the
motivational forces
The Dynamics of Motivation
• Motivation drives consumers to buy and is triggered by psychological tension
caused by unfulfilled needs
• The foundation of marketing is identifying and satisfying needs
• Marketers do not create needs, although in many instances they strive to make
consumers more keenly aware of unfelt or dormant needs
Needs
• There are two types of human needs:
• Physiological needs: innate (biogenic and primary), and fulfilling them
sustains biological existence
• Psychological needs: learned from our parents, social environment, and
interactions with others. Among many others, they include the needs for self-
esteem, prestige, affection, power, and achievement
Goals
• Goals are sough-after results of motivated behavior, and all human behavior is
goal oriented
• There are two types of goals:
• Generic goals are outcomes that consumers seek in order to satisfy
physiological and psychological needs
• Product-specific goals are outcomes that consumers seek by using a given
product or service
Goals
• The motivation to select goals can be either positive or negative
• Positive outcomes that we seek are called approach objects
• Negative outcomes that we want to prevent are called avoidance objects
Needs and goals are interdependent
• Needs are never fully satisfied
• New needs emerge as old ones are satisfied
• Success and failure influence goals
• Frustration and defense mechanisms
System of Needs
• There is no single, comprehensive, and commonly accepted list of needs
• Murray organized his needs into five groups: ambition, materialistic, power,
affection, and information needs
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
A Trio of Needs
• Another framework for organizing human needs is known as the trio of needs:
• Power
• Affiliation
• Achievement
Motivation Theory and Marketing Strategy
• Discovering Purchase Motives
• Multiple Motives
• Consumer Involvement
• Motivation Conflict
• Regulatory Forces
Latent and Manifest Motives in a Purchase Situation
Brand
X
Brand X
Differences in Regulatory Focus
Attitude
• Is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable
way toward a given object
• In the context of CB, an “object” can be a product, brand, service, price, package,
advertisement, promotional medium, or the retailer selling the product, among
many other aspects of consumption
• Attitudes are learned from direct experience with the product, word-of-mouth,
exposure to mass media, and other information sources that consumers are
exposed to
Attitudes and Their Formation
• Consumers learn attitudes
• Sources of attitude formation
• Attitude formation toward product categories/brands
• The role of personality factors
• Attitudes are consistent with behaviors
• Attitudes occur within situations
The tri-component attitude model
• Researchers constructed several models that explain how attitudes affect behavior
• The tri—component attitude model maintains that attitudes consist of three
components:
• Cognitive: the knowledge and perceptions of the features of an attitude object that
the person acquired from direct experience with the attitude object and information
from various sources
• Affective: represents the consumer’s emotions and feelings regarding the attitude
object, which are considered evaluations
• Conative: reflects the likelihood that an individual will undertake a specific action or
behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object
Altering Consumers’ Attitudes
• Changing beliefs about products
• Changing brand image
• Changing beliefs about competing brands
Changing the Motivational Functions of Attitudes
• Sometimes marketers must try to change negative consumer attitudes about
their products, companies, or marketing practices
• The reasons behind people’s attitudes are known as “functions”
• Changing attitudes by appealing to consumers’ motivations is known as the
functional approach
• Accordingly, attitudes are classified into four functions: the utilitarian function,
ego-defensive function, value-expressive function, and knowledge function
The Utilitarian Function
• Stems from the belief that consumers’ attitudes reflect the utilities that brands
provide
• One strategy for changing the attitudes in favor of a product is by demonstrating
to consumers that the product possesses a utilitarian purpose(s) that they may
not have considered
The Ego-Defensive Function
• Maintains that people form attitudes to protect themselves from sensing doubt
and to replace uncertainty with feelings of security and confidence
The Value-Expressive Function
• Maintains that attitudes reflect consumers’ values and beliefs, and that
marketers can create ads that either support or refute these notions
The Knowledge Function
• Holds that people form attitudes because they have a strong need to understand
the characters of people, events, and objects they encounter
• Hence, many firms use ads centered upon the consumer’s “need to know”
What sources influenced your attitude about this course before it
started?
Has your initial attitude changed since the course started?
If so, how?