Motivational research in marketing. the hidden motivations of the consumer

The hidden motivations of the consumer

The objective of any company is to be oriented to the market and to be able to sell the goods and services it produces successfully, for which they must be accepted by the consumers it is targeting. This objective can only be achieved if there is reciprocal communication between the producing company and the consumers. The organization communicates to consumers the products or services it offers and their conditions and, in turn, consumers express their preferences, attitudes and characteristics. Market research is used to access information about consumers.

Consumer research was born in light of market research, as a way to predict consumer reactions in the market and understand the motives and reasons that drive them to make the purchase decision.

The study of motivation tries to answer the question "why?" What is it that really leads the consumer to favor the purchase of such a product? At this level, the role of marketing is very important, because although it cannot create needs, it can detect motivations and guide its search process for the satisfaction of the need towards certain products.

Emergence of motivational research

The psychoanalytic theory of personality, by Sigmund Freud, established the bases for the development of motivational research. This theory was built on the premise that unconscious needs or impulses - especially those of a biological or sexual nature - are at the center of the motivation and personality of the human being.

Later, Dr. Ernest Dichter, a Vienna psychologist, adapted Freud's psychoanalytic techniques to the study of consumer buying habits. He investigated the motivation of people to buy products. According to Dichter, there are three basic assumptions to be wary of: 1) "people tell the truth about their tastes"; 2) "people are rational when they buy" and 3) "people know what they want."

Four principles of Motivational Research: 1. of the I and the ego: not to assume a position of superiority with respect to the receiver in such a way that he cannot reach it. Do not go over the receiver. of emotion: people are more emotional than rational. personality: projection phenomenon. There are people who project their personality onto objects. respecting the Self: avoiding false expectations. If the product claims to be useful for certain things, it must comply with what it says.

Marketing research up to that time had focused on what consumers were doing (ie, quantitative, descriptive studies) rather than the reasons why they did it. Marketers quickly became fascinated by the fun, daring, and often unexpected explanations these techniques offered of consumer behavior, especially since many of these explanations were rooted in sex.

In the early 1960s, marketers believed that motivational research had some downsides:

• The samples were small, due to the very nature of qualitative research; Hence, there was concern about extrapolating the results to the total market. They also believed that the analysis of projective tests and in-depth interviews was very subjective. The same data could provide different reports and explanations about the consumer behavior being analyzed. Critics also noted that many of the projective tests used had been developed for clinical purposes rather than for marketing or consumer behavior studies. consumer. One of the basic criteria for test development is that the tests be developed and validated for the specific purpose and on the specific audience from which the information is desired.

Thus, motivational researchers frequently resorted to sexual explanations for the simplest and most harmless activities. For example, an ad that showed a waitress carrying a tray full of large soda bottles was congratulated by a distinguished motivational researcher for her "clever use of phallic symbolism."

What is Motivational Research?

Motivational research is a type of marketing research that attempts to explain "why" consumers behave the way they do. It aims to discover and understand what consumers cannot fully understand about themselves. Implicitly, it assumes the existence of underlying or unconscious motives that influence consumer behavior. Motivational research tries to identify forces or influences that consumers may not be aware of (eg, cultural factors, sociological forces). Typically, these unconscious motives are intertwined and influenced by conscious motives or causes, cultural biases, economic variables, and (broadly defined) fashion trends.This research tries to clarify everything related to these influences and factors in order to unravel the mystery of consumer behavior related to a specific product or service, so that the marketer better understands his target audience and knows how to influence this segment of target customers.

Conscious and unconscious motives Conscious reasons are those that the consumer perceives to influence their purchase decision, while the unconscious are those that influence the decision without the buyer being aware of it. The buyer may not be aware of some reasons because they do not want to face the real reason for their purchase. Thus, for example, the buyer of a Mercedes or BMW car may not admit that he actually bought it for reasons of prestige and claim that he did so because he wants a powerful and fast car. In other cases, you may not really be aware of the true reasons for the purchase. Thus, for example, it may not be possible to explain why certain colors are preferred over others.

Motivational research is most valuable when powerful underlying motives are suspected of influencing consumer behavior. Thus, there are products or services that are closely related, or strongly related, to the attraction of the opposite sex, personal appearance, status or self-esteem, power, death, fear, or social taboos and all are likely candidates for motivational research.

Typically, in low differentiation product categories, perceptual variables and cultural influences are very important. Our culture is a system of rules and regulations that facilitate and optimize our existence. Cultural rules govern how we squeeze the tube of toothpaste, how we open the packages, how we use a bath towel, who does such work, etc. Most of us are relatively ignorant of these cultural rules. Understanding how these cultural rules influence a particular product can be extremely valuable knowledge for the marketer.

Personality profiles attributed to selected products discovered by motivational research
Baked	Expressing femininity and motherhood, baking evokes pleasant, nostalgic memories of the smells that permeate the house when the mother baked. For many women, a woman is subconsciously and symbolically going through the act of childbirth when she bakes a cake, the most fertile time being when the baked product is removed from the oven.
Beer	For most people, beer is an active, lively, sensual drink that provides the drinker with a feeling of security. People generally describe the beer they like as "live", "frothy", "bubbly", and the brands they dislike as "tasteless", "dead", or "sour."
Ice cream	Ice cream is associated with love and affection. The childhood memories give it a special power, when it was given to a child for being "good" and it was retained as an instrument of punishment. People refer to ice cream as something they "love" to eat. Ice cream is a symbol of abundance; people prefer round containers with an illustration around them, because it suggests an unlimited amount.
Electric tools	They are a symbol of manhood. They represent male skill and competence, and are often bought more for their symbolic value than for actual do-it-yourself applications. The fact of owning a good power tool or a circular saw gives man a feeling of omnipotence.
Source: Adapted from Handbook of Consumer Motivations, by Ernest Dichter, 1964, McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Methods and Techniques

The researcher takes into account the purpose of the study and the type of data that is needed.

The methods used are rooted in psychoanalytic and clinical aspects of psychology, and emphasize open-ended and free-response questions to stimulate responders to reveal their innermost thoughts and beliefs.

The four main techniques of motivational research are: observation, focus groups, the in-depth interview, and projective techniques.

• The Observation can be a fruitful method to derive hypotheses about the motives of human behavior. Anthropologists are pioneers in the development of this technique. This same systematic observation can also produce intuitive results on consumer behavior. Observation can be done in person or sometimes through the convenience of video. Personal observation is usually simply too expensive.

It is easier to observe when consumers are in shopping situations, and here the observation can be done in person or through video cameras. Video cameras are generally less intrusive than an in-person observation.

Generally, the observation must be complemented with focus groups or in-depth interviews to finish understanding why consumers do what they do.

• The Focus Group consist of eight or ten people who meet with a moderator / analyst for group discussion "focused" on a specific product or product category (or any other topic of interest for research). People are encouraged to talk about their interests, attitudes, reactions, motives, lifestyles, feelings; about the product or its category, experience in its use, etc. Because a focus group takes about 2 hours to finish, a researcher can easily conduct two or three focus groups (with a total of 30 people) daily, while that same researcher could need five or six days to carry out the same interviews individually.

Invariably, focus group sessions are recorded, and sometimes videotaped, to aid analysis. Interviews are generally conducted in conference rooms with mirrored windows, which allow marketers and ad agency staff to observe sessions without interrupting or inhibiting responses. Interviewees are recruited based on a carefully designed consumer profile (called a filter questionnaire), based on specifications defined by the marketing agency.

The focus group in the hands of an expert moderator can be a valuable motivational research technique. To reach its maximum motivational potential, the group interview should be largely unstructured, and the group should achieve spontaneous interaction. This provides reciprocal reinforcement within the group (the group provokes enthusiasm and spontaneity), which generates revelations and behaviors that allow discovering the underlying motivations of its members. A discussion in a focus group controlled by the moderator would rarely produce any understanding of the inner motives of the people in the group. But the focus group is a legitimate motivational technique.

• The In-Depth Interview is the heart and soul of motivational research. It is a lengthy personal interview (one or two hours), face to face, conducted directly by the motivational researcher. Much of the power or success of the in-depth interview is conditioned on the understanding, sensitivity, and skill or experience of the motivational researcher. The task of interviewing cannot be delegated to traditional marketing research interviewers, who do not have specific training in motivational techniques.

During the course of the personal interview, the motivational researcher must strive to generate a relationship of empathy with each of the interviewees, a sense of mutual understanding, mutual trust, and understanding. The researcher must create an environment in which the interviewee feels free to express their feelings and thoughts, without fear of embarrassment or rejection. The researcher must convey the feeling that both the interviewee and their opinions are important and that they are worthwhile, no matter what opinions are involved. Emotional empathy between the researcher and the interviewee is the single most determining factor in the effectiveness of the interview.

During the interview, the investigator will observe clues that strongly indicate that a "sensory nerve" has been touched. Long pauses of the interviewee, committed tongue lapses, expressions that denote restlessness, variations in the tone of the voice, strong emotions, facial expressions, eye movements, avoidance of questions, obsession with a topic, and body language are some of the clues. that are key for the motivational researcher. These “sensitive” topics and topics are then the focus of further investigation and exploration after the interview.

Each interview must be recorded on cassettes and then transcribed. A typical motivational study consists of conducting 30 to 50 in-depth interviews and producing 1,000 to 2,000 pages of transcribed word-for-word dialogue. During the interview, the motivational researcher takes notes about the interviewees' behavior, manners, physical appearance, personal characteristics, and non-verbal communication. These notes will become a "road map" that will help the motivational researcher to understand and interpret the interview carried out to the letter.

• The Projective Techniquescan play an important role in motivational research. They are designed to uncover the underlying motives of individuals, despite their unconscious rationalizations or their efforts to disguise a conscious cover-up. These techniques consist of various disguised tests containing ambiguous stimuli. Sometimes an interviewee can see in others what he cannot see, or will not admit, about himself. The theory behind projective tests is that people's internal feelings influence the way they perceive ambiguous stimuli. The motivational researcher often asks the interviewee to tell him a story, to play a role, to draw a figure, to complete a sentence, or to associate words with a stimulus. Photographs, product samples,Containers or wrappers and advertisements can also be used as prompts to evoke additional sentiments, metaphors, and comments. Thus, your responses are likely to reveal your underlying needs, desires, fears, aspirations, and motives, whether or not your respondents are fully aware of them.

The basic assumption underlying projective techniques is that people do not realize that they are expressing their own feelings

The problem with these techniques is the difficult interpretation, although many of the answers are already coded.

The disadvantages of projective tests are:

• Difficulty in interpretation Poor validity and reliability The CT scan is difficult to assess

These studies do not require numerous samples, but they do require preparation and experience on the part of the specialist.

Classification of methods and techniques used in motivational research

Direct techniques: are those in which the researcher, personally, confronts the subject or subjects and through interviews obtains the motivations for their consumption. They may be: In-depth interviews Group interviews Observation Consumer dashboards Indirect techniques: they use all the methods that psychology uses to reach the mental knowledge of people. The most used are: Projective tests

Types of projective techniques most used:

• Word association. Interviewees are presented with a series of words or phrases and asked to respond quickly with the first word that comes to mind after hearing the stimulus word. Noise words are mixed with those that provide the key information. Application: AT&T used this approach to select the name for long distance calls, from among several alternatives. Interviewees interpreted the name "marked nationwide" as "marked throughout the world." The name "toll dialing" was associated with money, fees, and the cost of a long-distance phone call. The name "direct remote dialing" was selected by AT&T because it communicated to the interviewees the idea of ​​long distance dialing without operator assistance, and had no unfavorable connotations. Sentence completion. The interviewee is read the beginning of a sentence, who is asked to complete it with the first thought that occurs to her.

Application: In an effort to develop more effective advertising, a study was conducted to find motivations for buying cars. The results indicated that men and women saw them from different points of view. When the women were asked to complete the sentence, "When you have a car for the first time…" their responses ran in the direction of "you can hardly wait to get behind the wheel" and "you would go for a drive." Men's responses to the same expression ran to "take good care of him," "check the engine," and "give him a polish." These results indicate that for women a car is something that is used, while for men it is something for which they are responsible and must take care of it.

- Completion of stories. The person tends to identify with the situation by ending situations.

- The Third Person Technique. Interviewees are asked to describe a third person, about whom they have received some information.

Application: When instant coffee was introduced in 1950, a study was conducted to identify the symbolic meaning of the new product. Two groups of interviewed home builders were given an identical shopping list, except for the type of coffee listed. The first group's shopping list included instant coffee; the other group's list included regular ground coffee. Respondents were asked to describe the woman whose shopping list they had seen, and the differences in their descriptions were attributed to the only experimental variable: the type of coffee listed. The builders perceived women who bought instant coffee as careless and bad wives, and users of ground coffee as thrifty and good wives. In 1950,this research suggested that easily prepared foods evoked feelings of guilt and skepticism. However, a replication of that study in 1970 indicated that the stigma associated with instant coffee had disappeared; This was attributed to the general acceptance of this type of coffee and easy-to-prepare foods, which had already been legitimized in the public eye since the first study had been carried out.

- Test with cartoons. The interviewee writes the dialogues between the characters with words that reflect what he thinks the character thinks or says.

- Thematic apperception test (TAT). Respondents are asked to interpret one or more graphic representations or cartoons related to the product or topic under study. It is used to measure personality.

Application: A study was designed to measure the price / quality perception of women in relation to cosmetics. Half of the interviewees were shown a carton of a woman buying a 49-cent beauty cream, the other half were shown that of a woman buying a $ 5 beauty cream. Both groups were asked to describe the beauty cream. The 49-cent product was described as "greasy and oily," and purchased by someone who "was swayed by advertising and didn't have much money for cosmetics." The $ 5 cream was visualized as leaving the skin "clean, fresh and youthful-looking," giving "smoothness and cleanliness to the skin," and being bought by someone who cares for the way it looks - possibly a businesswoman.The results show that women consider the more expensive cosmetics to be of better quality.

Test of Rorschach . Use cards with ink stains, black and colored, which are presented to the person analyzed and he must say what he sees in each of them. People project their unconscious personality traits and motivations through this test.

• Lists of adjectives. Role Playing . Thinking aloud.

The analysis

The motivational researcher reads and reviews the hundreds of pages, word for word, of the dialogue with the interviewee. Then he looks for a systematic pattern of response, trying to identify logical inconsistencies or apparent contradictions. Compare direct responses against descriptive (projective) responses. Record the consistent use of unusual words or phrases. Analyze the explicit content of the interview and contemplate its meaning in relation to its implicit content. Like a detective, he breaks evidence through clues to deduce the forces and motives that influence consumer behavior. No clue or piece of evidence is treated as if it were very important.

The analysis begins at the cultural level. What we eat, the way we eat, how we dress, what we think and feel, and the language we speak are dimensions of our culture. This assumes that cultural dimensions are the cornerstone for motivational researchers to begin their analysis. Culture is the context that must be understood before the behavior of individuals, within that context, can be understood. Every product is related to cultural values ​​and rules that influence the perception of it and its consumption.

The next step in the analysis is to explore the only reasons that are related to the product category. It is worth asking what psychological needs does the product satisfy? Does the product have any social connotations or an anthropological meaning? Is the product related to an aspiration for status, a competitive drive, feelings of self-worth, or security needs? Are masochistic motives involved? Does the product have a strong symbolic meaning? Among other questions like that. Some of these motives must be inferred, since the interviewees often do not know why they do what they do.

The last major dimension that must be understood is the business environment, including competitive forces, brand and image perceptions, relative market share, the role that advertising plays in the industry, and market trends. Of course, only a part of this knowledge of the business environment can come from the interviewees, but understanding the business context is crucial for interpreting the motives of the consumers in order to move towards useful results. Understanding the motives of consumers is worthless unless that knowledge can somehow be translated into practically applicable marketing and advertising recommendations.

Sometimes a motivational study is followed by quantitative surveys to confirm motivational hypotheses, as well as to measure the relative magnitude of those motives in the general population. But many times, motivational studies cannot be confirmed or refuted by survey-type research, especially when completely unconscious motives are involved. In these cases, the final evaluation of the hypothetical motives is carried out by experimenting with concepts (or advertising alternatives) that address the different motives, or through other types of engineered experiments.

It is critically important that the motivational researcher is not overly theoretical. It is best to have an eclectic, wide-ranging, and open-minded psychological perspective. The investigator should not take any hypothesis for granted before conducting a motivational study. Forcing hypotheses, or rigidly sticking to theory, would doom motivational study to failure. An objective, open, uninhibited mindset is the motivational researcher's most important asset.

Uses of motivational research

Given that motivational research often reveals unexpected consumer motivations in relation to the use of brands or products, its main utility today would be in the development of new ideas for promotional campaigns, ideas that can penetrate the full consciousness of consumers, by appealing to their unrecognized needs.

Motivational research also provides marketers with a basic orientation to new product categories, allowing them to explore consumer reactions to ideas and advertising copy at an early stage, before costly mistakes are made.

It provides consumer researchers with fundamental insights that allow them to design structured and quantitative marketing studies that can be applied to larger and more representative samples of consumers.

Motivational research has been profitably used by nonprofits. For example, Dichter found that people subconsciously resist donating to charities, because they believe that once they donate, they will receive no more attention. Against this background, many charities spend their time reporting their achievements to their donors and soliciting new donors, in order to generate goodwill for future campaigns.

Motivational research analyzes often suggest new ways that marketers should present their products to the public. For example, American Express used figures to determine the perceptions of users of the green and gold cards, the researchers found that the user of the gold card was perceived as a man with broad shoulders, holding an active position, while the user The green card was perceived as a person lying in front of a television. Based on this, American Express decided to offer its gold card as "a symbol of responsibility for people who are in control of their lives and finances."

Its application in Advertising

Motivational research tries to determine what will be the content of the advertising message through the analysis of the processes that occur at the time of consumption.

It is based on stating that motivation is a multi-causal element, which has its origin in the depths of our being. It will try to determine, not the causes that generate a specific behavior, but that hidden thing, that is, the true reason for our actions.

This is extremely complex, since the motivations for consumption (except those related to vital needs) are generated at psychosocial levels that are hidden in the deepest part of the structure of human thought.

To activate these levels and induce the purchase, it is about investigating what is the message that will activate our emotions to generate a certain pattern of behavior that leads us to need what they sell us and therefore to buy it.

The projective tests used allow the analyst to bring out the psychological process that results in acceptance, rejection or inference regarding the message and the product.

Vance Packard describes these experts as "symbol manipulations" and "psychologists of the depths" who dedicate their lives to delving into the subconscious, in search of our anguish, our desires and our most hidden fears, to be used later in campaigns advertising.

Vance Packard : classifies and makes a topology, of different types of motivations, which he calls "hidden needs":

1. selling emotional security: aims to make people feel safe with certain products. Example: Showing a full refrigerator in an advertisement shows that there will never be a shortage of food. sale of self-affirmation: «urgency to effort», approval with respect to the effort made. They motivate because the ad shows that they are saying what no one says. Example: household cleaning products. sale of immortality: life insurance: for the safety of the family after death, significance. Private cemeteries: status, family safety. selling self-satisfaction : self-satisfaction. Buy something that makes you feel good. By social necessity. sale of creative exhausts:instant products. Recipe packages, recommendations to make it better. Give people the opportunity to contribute some of their creativity. sale of love objects: use of children and animals (puppies) in advertising. sale of a sense of roots: use of figures or icons of culture related to the land, with a nationalist feeling. sale of feeling of power: an argument is given to the product of greater proportions, which grant power or prestige. Example: cars, credit cards.

An advertisement does not need to have only one of these arguments, or all of them, it can combine several by combining them.

Psychological symbolism in advertising
Penguins	They symbolize freshness, refreshment, and friendship (used in Halls candy commercials to subconsciously connote these qualities)
A man in a rough outdoor situation	It symbolizes a "lone wolf" (Schick uses this symbol to give the connotation of the underlying message "to be caressed and loved, and to be a lover")
Teddy bear	Symbol of taming aggression (a perfect image for a fabric softener that “tames” the rough texture of clothing)
A male back	It can be perceived as "foolishly turning its back on the consumer" (the Gray Flannel colony removed this non-verbal symbol from its advertisements)
Source: Based on Ronald Alsop, "Agencies Scrutinize Their Ads for Psychological Symbolism," The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 1987, 27.

Motivational research today

Motivational research is still viewed by marketers, despite criticism, as an important tool for gaining deeper insights into the causes of consumer action, even more so than conventional market research techniques can provide..

The evidence indicates that the unconscious is the site of the origin of an even larger part of mental life than Freud could have imagined. The new science of semiotics studies the conscious and subconscious meanings of non-verbal symbols among consumers. These elements are usually obtained through motivational research.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDEX

1. Schiffman, Leon G. and Lazar Kanuk, Leslie, "Consumer Behavior", Editorial Prentice Hall, Mexico, 1997. Carbó Ponce, Esteve, "Manual of Psychology Applied to Business", Editorial Granica, Spain, 2000. Wells, William, Burnett, John and Moriarty, Sandra, “Advertising. Principles and Practice ”, Editorial Prentice Hall, Mexico, 1996. Kotler, Philip and Armstrong, Gary,“ Marketing ”, Editorial Prentice Hall, Mexico, 1996. Publications, works and essays from various Internet sites.

Examples of methods used in motivational research and their results

Study on the insecurities and fears of buyers This research showed that one of the reasons why young housewives prefer the supermarket to the smaller store is that in the latter, having to deal with an employee, it is more difficult for them to hide their ignorance about food. The Jewel Tea Company found through a motivational study that this fear is particularly common when women are faced with the butcher, who they fear because they know so little about the parts of the beef. Consequently, the Jewel department store chain began to train those in charge of the butcher section to show special patience and sympathy with their customers. This tactic produced a considerable increase in sales in all other sections.

Study on the reason for the increase in impulse purchases According to DuPont, a social psychologist, seven out of ten purchases are made at the supermarket. James Vicary, another social psychologist, suspected that something special was going on in the psychology of women who walked into the supermarket. It had an influence that they might experience increased tension when faced with many different products, and therefore they were forced to make purchases in a hurry. The best way to find out what was going on inside the clients would be to use a galvanometer or lie detector, which was obviously impractical. Another procedure, almost as advantageous, was to use a hidden film camera, to record the average blinking of customers while shopping. The rapidity of the blink serves as a fairly accurate index of internal tension. According to Mr. Vicary,the normal person blinks about thirty-two times a minute. If you feel tense, blink more often; under extreme stresses it can do so up to fifty or sixty times a minute. On the other hand, if your state is completely placid, your blinking can be reduced to twenty times or even less. (Hypnosis assumes zero blink). Vicary installed cameras in different establishments and followed dozens of women. The results were amazing. The blinking of the clients instead of increasing, as he supposed, dropped to an abnormal average of up to fourteen times a minute. The women had reached the first stage of hypnosis, which Vicary calls the hypnogogic process. Undoubtedly, the accumulation of consumer objects with attractive colors, the temperature, the sound, the agglomeration of people with their carts full of products, induce this artificial sensation of disorientation. Many of the clients were so hypnotized that they passed by neighbors and old friends without knowing them. Some were a little glassy-eyed. As the housewives filled their carts and headed for the checkout, the blinking began to increase up to twenty-five times a minute. Then upon hearing the sound of the cash register and the voice of the cashier asking for money, the flickering went up above normal at about forty-five times a minute. In many cases it happened that women did not have to pay for all the things they had bought. Taking into account this source of purchasing impulses that is the supermarket, psychologists have teamed up with marketing experts, to convince the housewife to buy products that she does not need, or that she may not even want until she sees them, seductive, on the shelves.

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