What Does It Mean to Consume? PDF

## OBJECTIVE 4 Our motivations to consume are complex and varied. ## What Does It Mean to Consume? What's the poop on Peeps? Every year, people buy about 1.5 billion of these mostly tasteless marshmallow chicks; about two-thirds of them sell around Easter. They have no nutritional value, but they...

## OBJECTIVE 4 Our motivations to consume are complex and varied. ## What Does It Mean to Consume? What's the poop on Peeps? Every year, people buy about 1.5 billion of these mostly tasteless marshmallow chicks; about two-thirds of them sell around Easter. They have no nutritional value, but they do have a shelf life of 2 years. Maybe that's why not all Peeps get eaten. Devotees use them in decorations, dioramas, online slide shows, and sculptures. Some fans feel challenged to test their physical properties: On more than 200 Peeps Web sites, you can see fetishists skewering, microwaving, hammering, decapitating, and otherwise abusing the spongy confections. This fascination with a creepy little candy chick illustrates one of the fundamental premises of the modern field of consumer behavior: People often buy products not for what they do but for what they mean. This principle does not imply that a product's basic function is unimportant, but rather that the roles products play in our lives extend well beyond the tasks they perform. The deeper meanings of a product may help it to stand out from other similar goods and services. All things being equal, we choose the brand that has an image (or even a personality!) consistent with our underlying needs. For example, although most people probably couldn't run faster or jump higher if they wear Nikes instead of Reeboks, many die-hard loyalists swear by their favorite brand. People choose between these archrivals (or other competitors) largely due to their brand images-meanings that have been carefully crafted with the help of legions of rock stars, athletes, slickly produced commercials, and many millions of dollars. So, when you buy a Nike "swoosh," you are doing more than choosing shoes to wear to the mall: you also make a lifestyle statement about the type of person you are or wish you were. For a relatively simple item made of leather and laces, that's quite a feat! Our allegiances to sneakers, musicians, and even soft drinks help us define our place in modern society, and these choices also help each of us to form bonds with others who share similar preferences. This comment by a participant in a focus group captures the curious bonding that can be caused by consumption choices: "I was at a Super Bowl party, and I picked up an obscure drink. Somebody else across the room went 'yo!' because he had the same thing. People feel a connection when you're drinking the same thing." 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. The need creates a state of tension that drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate it. This need may be utilitarian (i.e., a desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit, as when a person loads up on green vegetables for nutritional reasons) or it may be hedonic (i.e., an experiential need, involving emotional responses or fantasies). The desired end state is the consumer's goal. Marketers try to create products and services to provide the desired benefits and help the consumer to reduce this tension. Whether the need is utilitarian or hedonic, the magnitude of the tension it creates determines the urgency the consumer feels to reduce it. We call this degree of arousal a **drive**. **Drive theory** focuses on biological needs that produce unpleasant states of arousal (e.g., your stomach grumbles during a morning class). The arousal this tension causes motivates us to reduce it. Some researchers believe that this need to reduce arousal is a basic mechanism that governs much of our behavior. If a behavior reduces the drive, we naturally tend to repeat it. Your motivation to leave class early to grab a snack would be greater if you hadn't eaten in 24 hours than if you had eaten only 2 hours earlier. If you did sneak out and got indigestion afterward, say, from wolfing down a package of Twinkies, you would be less likely to repeat this behavior the next time you want a snack. One's degree of motivation, then, depends on the distance between one's present state and the goal. Drive theory runs into difficulties when it tries to explain some facets of human behavior that run counter to its predictions. People often do things that increase a drive state rather than decrease it. For example, we may delay gratification. If you know you are going out for a lavish dinner, you might decide to forego a snack earlier in the day even though you are hungry at that time. Most current explanations of motivation focus on cognitive factors rather than biological ones to understand what motivates behavior. **Expectancy theory** suggests that expectations of achieving desirable outcomes-positive incentives-rather than being pushed from within motivate our behavior. We choose one product over another because we expect this choice to have more positive consequences for us. Thus, we use the term *drive* here loosely to refer to both physical and cognitive processes. Motives have direction as well as strength. They are goal-oriented in that they drive us to satisfy a specific need. We can reach most goals by a number of routes, and the objective of a company is to convince consumers that the alternative it offers provides the best chance to attain the goal. For example, a consumer who decides that she needs a pair of jeans to help her reach her goal of being admired by others can choose among Levi's, Wranglers, True Religion, Diesel, Seven for All Mankind, and many other alternatives, each of which promises to deliver certain benefits. ## What Do We Need - Really? What is the difference between needing something and wanting it? The answer to this deceptively simple question actually explains a lot of consumer behavior! A **want** is a specific manifestation of a need that personal and cultural factors determine. For example, hunger is a basic need that all of us must satisfy; a lack of food creates a tension state that a person is motivated to reduce. But, the way he or she chooses to do that can take a lot of forms: One person's "dream meal" might include a cheeseburger, fries, and double-fudge Oreo cookies, while another might go for sushi. We describe motivation 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 it. When we focus on a utilitarian need, we emphasize the objective, tangible attributes of products, such as miles per gallon in a car; the amount of fat, calories, and protein in a cheeseburger; or the durability of a pair of blue jeans. **Hedonic needs** are subjective and experiential; here we might look to a product to meet our needs for excitement, self-confidence, or fantasy-perhaps to escape the mundane or routine aspects of life. Many items satisfy our hedonic needs (there's even a popular resort called Hedonism). Luxury brands in particular thrive when they offer the promise of pleasure to the user-how badly do you "need" that Armani suit or Tiffany brooch? Of course, we can also be motivated to purchase a product because it provides both types of benefits. For example, a woman (perhaps a politically incorrect one) might buy a mink coat because of the luxurious image it portrays and because it also happens to keep her warm through the long, cold winter. Indeed, recent research on novel consumption experiences indicates that even when we choose to do unusual things (like eating bacon ice cream or staying in a freezing ice hotel), we may do so because we have what the authors term a **productivity orientation**. This refers to a continual striving to use time constructively: Trying new things is a way to check them off our "bucket list" of experiences we want to achieve before we move on to others. ## How We Classify Consumer Needs Some analysts set out to define a universal inventory of needs they could trace systematically to explain virtually all behavior. One such inventory that the psychologist Henry Murray developed delineates a set of 20 psychogenic needs that (sometimes in combination) result in specific behaviors. These needs include such dimensions as autonomy (being independent), defendance (defending the self against criticism), and even play (engaging in pleasurable activities). Other motivational approaches focus on specific needs and their ramifications for behavior. For example, individuals with a high need for achievement strongly value personal accomplishment. They place a premium on products and services that signify success because these consumption items provide feedback about the realization of their goals. These consumers are good prospects for products that provide evidence of their achievement. One study of working women found that those who were high in achievement motivation were more likely to choose clothing they considered businesslike and less likely to be interested in apparel that accentuated their femininity. Some other important needs that are relevant to consumer behavior include: - **Need for affiliation** - (to be in the company of other people). The need for affiliation is relevant to products and services for people in groups, such as those participating in team sports, frequenting bars, and hanging out at shopping malls. - **Need for power** - (to control one's environment). Many products and services allow us to feel that we have mastery over our surroundings (to quote the famous line from the TV show Seinfeld, we are "masters of our domain")! These products range from "hopped-up" muscle cars and loud boom boxes (large portable radios that impose one's musical tastes on others) to luxury resorts that promise to respond to every whim of their pampered guests.