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Retail Business Environment

Notes Perception is another key tool for influencing consumer behaviour. People want to be perceived
as being part of a particular group, they want to be perceived as having a certain taste, a flair or
making good choices.
Two identical products can be marketed differently and, depending on the consumer's perception
and motivation, they will be received in very different ways.
Different consumer groups are motivated by different things but consumer behaviour is dictated
by the group people want to be perceived as belonging to, their motivation by being targeted
by clever marketing companies and their desire to fit in.
In a super market, who doesn't eye someone else's trolley to see what brands they buy - and how
embarrassed are you at filling your trolley with all supermarket brand products or basic range
goods only to meet your friend who always buys the most expensive goods? Most of us add a
few branded products just to feel better.
Motivation can also be from an eco or green perspective and people want to be seen to be doing
their bit by buying brands which are best known for low carbon foot prints and replanting trees
used for their toilet tissue so motivation is not always about money. Your motivation can affect
how you are perceived (or how you would like to be perceived).
Whichever way you look at it, consumer behaviour is very heavily influenced by motivation
and perception.

9.1 Motivation

Motivation is an important factor in understanding behaviour. The importance of motivation is
reflected in the following definitions:

Motivation can be described as the driving force within individuals that impels them to
action.

Motivation refers to the process that cause people to behave as they do.
Motivation is the energizing force that activates behaviour and provides purpose and
direction to that behaviour .

Motive is a construct representing an unobservable inner force that stimulates and compels
a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response.

Motive is an inner state that mobilizes bodily energy and directs it in selective fashion
toward goals usually located in the external environment.
Motivation, then, influences people's behaviour in the way it stimulates and directs behaviour.

People's goals are directed to the fulfilment of needs and wants. "Need" refers to human
requirements, generally physiological needs such as food, water or clothing. Since the 1920s,
researchers have tried to classify human needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Motivation, which is
probably the best known classification, identified five distinct needs.
Likewise, the "need" for a particular product is often difficult to classify. For example, people
buy a pizza because they feel hungry. But why would they prefer to purchase a pizza rather than
something else? Needs may develop as acquired needs and wants. Acquired needs are a result of
what we experience in our daily lives, such as the need for esteem, prestige, affection, power or
learning. Wants are "the expression of needs in actual situations. These needs and wants can
become goals which influence behaviour. People may go to the store to achieve some of
their goals.

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