Consumer Motivation and Your Brand
When it comes to sales and marketing, understanding consumer motivation can mean the difference between a successful brand and a colossal failure. The highest quality products in the world will not sell if they do not meet a consumer need. Of course this is more easily said than done. Even asking potential and/or existing customers will not necessarily reveal the true nature of their internal needs and desires.
The Basics Of Consumer Motivation
So what does consumer motivation look like exactly? That can vary dramatically from consumer to consumer, demographic to demographic, and industry to industry. For example, the motivations of a young woman shopping for business clothing would be very different from a grandmother shopping for a grandchild. No matter what the details, the flow of consumer motivation from unconscious desire to eventual purchase might look something like this:
A need exists. This can be a concrete need such as physical hunger for food or something more mercurial like a need to belong within a certain social group.
That need becomes a motivation which creates a consciousness of the disconnect between the need and the lack of a solution. This is when most consumers begin to research options.
A motivation becomes a concrete desire for a specific product or service. Individuals might decide whether they want Indian food, Thai food, Italian, etc.
The consumer will then make a decision and fulfill their needs with a product or service. This is not the end of the process, as the customer’s experience will inform future decisions when it comes to fulfilling a similar need.
Three Different Shopping Motives to Consider
Rational Motives: when consumers make purchasing decisions based on analysis that is rational, looking at various elements such as warranties, safety, price or practicality. Products purchased under this motive are often seen as necessities, such as a coat for winter, organic ingredients in makeup, or comfortable shoes for urban environments.
Emotional motives: those purchasing decisions based on emotional need and/or association with that product or service. These motives are based on a need to feel prestigious or to elevate social status or an emotionally driven event (e.g. loss of a job, first date, etc.)
Patronage motives: when consumers purchase goods or services based on their personal preferences, looking at elements such as customer service, product quality, or brand loyalty. A patronage motive is in play, for instance, when consumers continually purchase denim from their favorite brand due to the quality of the product and satisfaction they receive from owning it. While there may be a more popular brand at a cheaper price, they would prefer to stay with the brand they feel most comfortable with.
Keep in mind that consumers usually act on multiple motives when purchasing, typically having a primary and a secondary motive when making the decision on what brand or product to purchase.
Aligning Your Brand With Your Customers
Understanding customer motivation is not just a one-way street. Instead, effective branding views consumer motivations and consumer behaviors as part of an ever-evolving customer feedback loop. As part of this strategy, it is vital to align your branding efforts with the needs and desires of your consumer base. If your demographic values youthful energy, so too should your marketing materials. Both internal and external brand alignment is vital for creating a clear and effective brand message.
A caveat to this advice is to be wary of adapting your brand message to quickly or too dramatically due to customer feedback. There is a fine line between adapting to customer feedback and confusing customers with rapid changes to branding materials. The most effective brands evolve over time without losing their core brand identity. Consider that the world’s most prominent brands have iconic slogans, brand personality, and even color schemes which hold true over the years.