other words, yOll could learn to play tennis by reading about how to play without actually
doing it. This is called nonexperientiallearning.
Nonexperientiallearning is particularly relevant
consumer behavior. For example,
assume you are considering purchasing a bottle of Zinfandel wine. You ask the salesclerk
what it tastes like . and he tells you it tastes like a strong ginger ale. Not liking the taste of ginger ale, you reject
purchase. Thus you have learned that you do not like Zinfandel
wine without having a direct taste experience. A great deal of our learning is of this type.
This may be one reason why marketers try to identify opinions leaders who in tum tell oth-
ers in the market about the benefits of the product.
Another characteristic of
is that the changes may be immediate or antici-
pated. In other words, just because
do
see immediate evidence that learning has
place is no reason to assume that learning has not occurred. 'Ne can store
learning until
it i:; needed, and frequently do this in terms of making purchase decisions. For example,
we are willing to learn about many product attributes even though we do not expect
buy
product in the near future.
new information is processed and stored over
consumer learning takes place
There are several
of learning: one of the most useful to marketers is that of
ization. Socialization refers
process by which persons acqu ire the knowledge, skills,
and dispositions that make them more or less able members of their society. The assump-
tion made is that behavior is acquired
modified over the person's
The social learning approach stresses sources of influence-"socialization agents"
(i .e., other people)-that transmit cognitive and behavioral patterns to the learner. In the
case of consumer socialization , th is takes place in the course of the person's interaction
with other individuals in various social settings. Socialization agents might include any per-
son, organization, or information source that comes into contact with the consumer.
Consumers
this infOlmation from the other individuals through the processes
of modeling, reinforcement, and social interaction Modeling involves imitation of the agent's behavior. For example, a teenager may acquire a brand name preference for !zod from friends .
Marketers can make use of this concept by employing spokespersons to endorse their prod-
ucts and services who have strong credibility with their target consumers, as in the case of
Bill Cosby (Jell-G). Reinforcement involves either a reward or a punishment mechanism
used by the agent. A parent may be reinforced by good product performance, excellent post-
purchase services, or some similar rewarding experience. The social interaction mechanism is less specific as to the type of learning involved; it may include a combination of moo-eling and reinforcement. The social setting within which learning
place can be defined
in terms of variables such as social class, sex, and family size.
These
can influence learning through their impact on the relationship between
the consumer and others. It should be noted that an individual
promotes learning can
be anyone-such
parent, friend, salesperson. or television spokesperson.
Motivation
Motivation is a concept that is difficult to define.
fact, the difficulty
of defining motives and dealing with motivation in consumer research accounts for its lim-
ited application. For the most part, the research in motivation involves benefit segmenta-
tion and patronage motives. Patronage motives typically concern
consumer's reasons
for shopping at a particular oudet. Consumers are classified, for example, as price-conscious,
convenience-oriented, service-oriented, or in terms of some other motivating feature.
A motive
the inner drive or pressure to take action to satisfy a need. To be moti-
vated is to be a goal-oriented individual. Some
are positive, some are negative, some
indiv:duals have a high level of goal orientation, some have a very low level. In all cases,
the 11eed must be aroused or stimulated to a
enough level so that it can serve as a motive.
BUYER BEHAVIOR AS PROBLEM SOLVING
89
It is possible (and usual) to have needs that are
(unstimulated) and that therefore do
not serve as the motive of behavior. The sources of this arousal may be internal (people get
hungry), environmental (you see an ad for a Big Mac), or psychological (just thinking about
food can cause hunger) . It is possible (and usual) to have needs that are latent (unstimu-
lated) and that therefore do not serve as the motive of behavior.
For motivation to be useful in marketing practice, a marketing manager must under-
stand what motives and behaviors are influenced by the specific situation in which con-
sumers engage in goal-directed, problem-solving behavior.
Motivation flows from an unmet need, as does all consumer problem solving. Per-
haps the best known theory dealing with individual motivation is provided in the work of
A.H. Maslow. One of the most important parts of Maslow's theory is his development of
a model consisting of several different levels of needs that exist in a human being and relate
to each other via a "need
Maslow has differentiated between five levels of needs.
The first of these concerns itself with physiological needs ; that is, hunger, thirst, and other basic drives. All living beings, regardless of their level of maturity, possess physiological
needs. Physiological needs are omnipresent and are of a recurrent nature.7
Safety and security needs are second in Maslow's hierarchy. The difference between
physiological needs and safety and security needs is somewhat hazy. Safety and security
imply a continued fulfillment of physiological needs. This is an extension of the more basic
needs.
Third in Maslow's hierarchy of needs are the love needs. These are the needs for belong-
ing and friendship .
involve a person's interaction with others. The fourth level of needs
in Maslow's hierarchy is the esteem needs. These are needs related to feeling good about
oneself and having a positive self-image.
The fifth and highest level in Maslow's needs hierarchy is the need for self-actualization
or self-fulfillmen t. This need can be defined as the need of a person to reach his full poten-
tial in terms of the application of his own abilities and interest in functioning in his envi-
ronment.
It is important in discussing these levels of Maslow's hierarchy to point out two addi-
tional factors. First, Maslow has clearly indicated that these five levels of needs operate on
an unconscious level. That is, the individual is probably not aware of concentration upon
one particular need or one assortment of needs.
of the misunderstandings associated
with Maslow's theory is that he believes the five needs to be mutually exclusive. That, in
fact, is not the intent of Maslow. To the contrary, several of these needs may occur simul-
taneously for anyone indiv idual ; the relative importance of each need for anyone indi-
vidual determines the hierarchy involved.
When we attempt to integrate
needs hierarchy with the concept of seg-
mentation, we can see that a manager migh t find certain subgroups that fit together because
of some homogeneity of needs. For example, a marketer may target a group with strong
self-esteem needs in designing a promotional program for cosmetics. Appeals to higher-
order needs are important for many products and services, even basic commodities.
Personality is used to summarize all the traits of a person that make hirn/her unique.
No two people have the same traits , but several attempts have been made to classify peo-
ple with similar traits. Perhaps the best-known personality types are those proposed by Carl
Jung, as is a variation on the work of his teacher, Sigmund Freud. His personality cate-
gories are introvert and extrovert. The introvert is described as defensive, inner-directed, and withdrawn from others. The extrovert is outgoing, other-directed, and assertive. Several other more elaborate classifications ha ve also been devised .
Various personality types, like people with various motives, are likely to respond in
different ways to different market offerings. For example, an extrovert may enjoy the shopping
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