Abstract
We have encountered the concept of motivation more than once in this book:
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In Chapter 6 (Learning) we discussed the role of motivation in learning, remembering and forgetting. We saw that people might be motivated, unconsciously, to forget a certain brand name if it was associated in their mind with an unpleasant experience. We also saw that it is more usual for people to be motivated to remember information and that this is important for successful learning.
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In Chapter 5 (Personality) we discussed the work of Ernest Dichter, the founder of ‘motivational research’, a system of interpreting consumer behaviour in terms of Freudian psychoanalysis. This system, which places great importance on a consumer’s unconscious reasons for buying a product, will be explored in greater detail in this chapter.
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In Chapter 2 (Market Segmentation) we noted the importance of individual motivation in the way an individual consumer structures his or her lifestyle, and how market researchers have developed psychological techniques to tap into this process.
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We will also encounter the concept of motivation later in this book, perhaps most notably in Chapter 13 (Attitudes). It is in fact difficult to overstate its importance for a psychological approach to understanding the consumer.
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Further Reading
Hirschman, E. C. (ed.), Interpretive Consumer Research (Provo, Utah: Association for Consumer Research, 1989). An authoritative review of the important ‘interpretive’ approacl) to consumer behaviour emphasizing subjective aspects of consumption and the consumer’s motivation.
Olson, J. and K. Sentis (eds), Advertising and Consumer Psychology (New York: Praeger, 1986). A good selection of articles dealing with key topics raised in this and other chapters.
Piirto, R., Beyond Mind Games: The Marketing Power of Psychographics (Ithaca, NY: American Demographics Books, 1991). The leading authority on the practical applications of psychographics.
Robertson, T. and H. Kassarjian (eds), Handbook of Consumer Behavior (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1991). The authoritative account of the most important concepts used in research on consumer behaviour. The 1991 edition has some particularly useful articles on motivation.
References
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Maslow, Motivation and Personality, op. cit.
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Ibid.
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Dichter, E., The Strategy of Desire (New York: Doubleday, 1960).
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Alsop, R., Agencies scrutinize their advertisements for psychological symbolism’, The Wall Street Journal, 11 June 1987, p. 25.
Dichter, Handbook, op. cit.
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© 1997 David A. Statt
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Statt, D.A. (1997). Motivation. In: Understanding the Consumer. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25438-5_7
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