In this week’s tutorial, the following questions will be discussed.
Question 1
A marketer of health foods is attempting to segment its market on the basis of Australian consumers’ self‐image.
Describe the types of consumer self‐image and discuss which one(s) would be most effective for the stated purpose.
A consumer’s self-image or perception is closely associated to a consumer’s personality (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 132). According to the theory, we all have multiple selves where we play a multitude of roles in different settings or scenarios Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 132). For instance, we play the role of a son or daughter in the presence of our parents, and a friend in the presence of our peers. In a marketer’s point of view, its important for them to distinguish each of these roles we play so that they can develop goods and services that are able to meet the needs of each actor. Self-image doesn’t develop overnight but develops as we grow in our background and experience. We also develop a self-image as we communicate with a variety of people – which is a form of learning from the external environment.
According to Schiffman et al. (2014, p. 133), there are five types of consumer self-image:
- Actual self-image – Consists of how consumers see themselves. For example, a consumer who assumes themselves as a participant of an active or rugged lifestyle would be more inclined to camping products and SUVs as these goods have a symbolic meaning for being ‘active and rugged’
- Ideal self-image – Consists of how consumers would like to see themselves. We all have an ideal self where we aim to ascribe positive traits commonly found in our role models.
- Social self-image – Consists of how consumers feel others see them. For instance, we may feel that others view us as a humorous person if they subscribe to our jokes, humour or sarcasm.
- Ideal social self-image – Consists of how consumers would like others to see them. An ideal social-image is important in our effort to become part of the social groups we wish to join and stay in. This concept can be linked to in-group tendencies in consumers who change their behaviour in order to feel accepted by a social group.
- Expected self-image – Consists of how consumers expect to see themselves at some specific point in future. The expected self-image is noted to be between the actual and ideal self-image and is future-oriented in nature where we observe the question of “What would we like to be?”
In our opinion, an actual self-image is the most important in determining the market segment. This is because a lot of purchasing behaviour is dependent on the perceptions of differences between the actual and desired state of an individual (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 102). When a high enough difference is perceived, the tension is transformed to a need which is able to guide our behaviour primarily. For example, when a consumer is hungry, they would buy or cook some food. A health food marketer needs to know what types of healthy options of food a consumer would go for when they are hungry in order to satisfy the market needs. While friends and families (external influences) can motivate or demotivate an individual towards or away from health foods, it is ultimately up to the individual in choosing their choice of action. Therefore, the actual self-image is the most crucial focus in marketing research.
Question 2
(a) What is motivational research?
(b) What are its strengths and weaknesses?
(c) How did Ernest Dichter apply Freudian theory to consumer behavior?
(d) How was motivational research used in the 1950s?
(e) How do marketers use the technique today?
a) Motivational research is defined as the research of human behaviour in determining the discrepancies between what people say, do, and think (Rothwell 1955, p. 150). Motivational research is generally based on qualitative research designs such as in-depth interviews, focus groups and ethnographic research in order to discover the consumer’s subconscious or hidden motives (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 99). Motivational research is useful for marketers in determining why some products are favoured and noticed while others are not.
b) The strengths of the motivational research includes a positive recognition in the marketing world. According to Sharma (n.d.), motivational research has encouraged marketers to focus less on the demographic and statistical results from marketing research. For instance, repeat purchases don’t necessarily mean that a marketer has fulfilled a consumer needs but merely because the location of the purchase was convenient for the consumer. High purchase frequency also can’t be confused with consumer loyalty, as a consumer may stick with one product simply because they assume that there are no other alternatives in the market.
Meanwhile, the weakness of motivational research is evident in the psychoanalytic theory. The psychoanalytic theory, developed by Dr Ernest Dichter is based on a research conducted on disturbed people who may or may not have different mental models or cognitive skills compared to the average consumer (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 99). Secondly, as part of a qualitative research design, the results of motivational research are highly dependent on the interpretation of the researcher. Thus, any biases towards a particular subject or matter can block certain information from enabling the researcher in making inferences (Sharma, n.d.).
c) According to Schiffman et al. (2014, p. 99), Dr Ernest Dichter used Freud’s psychological analytical techniques to study consumer buying habits. He developed certain product profiles which explained consumer behaviour based on their origins in sex. For instance, baking is perceived as a sexual symbol of femininity and motherhood. This is because the act of baking is similar to the act of giving birth where a woman nourishes a child in her womb (oven) until it is time to deliver said child (baking completed).
d) Back in the 1950s, marketers were focused on what consumer did instead of why they did it (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 99). Motivational marketing started gaining popularity in the 1950s post Word War II where demand for consumer goods shot high. To cope with such an increase, marketers changed their viewpoint from focussing on the interests of marketers themselves to the interests of the consumer. Dr Ernest Dichter summarised that motivational research is a psychoanalytic interpretation of motives linked to sexual intentions. Thus, research of a certain product, such as a car was linked to the view that a car is a man’s mistress, as they spent considerable amount of time maintaining it along with identifying the car with an identity of a ‘she’ (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 99).
e) Today, marketers don’t focus on the sexual aspects of a product alone, but instead look into the subconscious and conscious minds of consumers in determining what motivates them for the purposes of developing relevant promotional and distribution materials that are more likely to entice or engage the consumer (Schiffman et al. 2014, p. 100). At the same time, it also looks at the internal and external influences of consumer decision making such as the economic conditions, opinions of social groups, and the efforts of advertisers in gaining market share. Lake (2019) observes that a successful market positioning and later, selection of market niche or target market is highly dependent on understanding what a marketer can do in fulfilling a consumer need based on their own capability and knowledge in serving this group.
Written by:
Sak Jeng Mun (5506487)
Lin Yi Wei (5586483)
Li Yunzhe (5674268)
Huang Lei (5930571)
References
Lake, L 2019, ‘Motivation Research and How It Is Used’, the balance small business, 1 February, accessed 2/5/2019, <https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-motivation-research-2295518>.
Rothwell, ND 1955, ‘Motivational Research Revisited’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 150–154, viewed 2 May 2019, <https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=6746070&site=eds-live>.
Schiffman, LG, O’Cass, A, Paladino, A & Carlson, J 2014, Consumer Behaviour, Pearson, Australia.
Sharma, M n.d., ‘Motivation Research: Strengths and Weaknesses’, YourArticleLibrary, accessed 2/5/2019, <http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/motivation/motivation-research-strengths-and-weaknesses/48949>.
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