Decoding Motivation, a Complex Force Behind Consumer Decisions

By Monica Belmaña, Director Center for Human Understanding

Why does someone join a gym? Maybe it’s to add some variety to their existing fitness regimen. Or because of a special discount for new members. Or because their doctor told them it was vital to their health. Or to meet new people.

Sometimes the motivation behind a behavior seems obvious. But more often the reason an individual makes a particular purchase or goes ahead with some other action is an amalgam of complex needs and wants, both extrinsic and intrinsic. To effectively attract new customers and strengthen the loyalty of existing ones, a brand needs to understand all the deeply human factors that motivate them on a daily basis.

Extrinsic Motivations

An external, or extrinsic, aspect of why someone makes a purchase is usually the most apparent; someone is picking up a new bottle of laundry detergent because they ran out, or a person is buying a lawnmower because they just moved into their first house. Beneath the extrinsic element, however, are internal drivers. These often determine the type, benefits or brand of item someone is purchasing. For instance, a person motivated by prestige will likely shop different brands and styles of shoes than one driven largely by comfort, practicality or financial security.

Situational cues are another external influence on motivation. The wafting smell of fresh-baked cookies at a food court could motivate a shopper to buy cookies even if they aren’t hungry or to choose cookies over a pretzel or ice cream cone.

Intrinsically Influential

Emotions are intrinsic influences on customer motivation. Marketers know that adding “limited time only” motivates purchases from consumers with a fear of missing out. Pleasure might motivate a shopper to add a luxury chocolate bar to their grocery cart, while guilt might spur that same shopper to add a toy for their pet or their child to their cart as well.

One tool we at the Material Center for Human Understanding use to assess consumer emotions as they relate to motivation is the Emotion Circumplex model. This is based on research indicating that emotions operate on two axes: positive-negative valence and high-low energy. A brand, campaign or product that engenders positive feelings and high energy among consumers is most likely to motivate them to take near-term action, such as to make a purchase that day.

Humans are also driven by a hierarchy of fundamental needs, spanning from physiological needs like food and water, to social and emotional needs for connection and interpersonal relationships, to needs for safety and security. To help categorize the fundamental human needs that motivate consumers’ relationships with categories and brands, Material developed the BASE framework.

Belonging — Consumers look for brands to help connect them with others or provide them with a means for togetherness, family, friendship and care.

Appeal — Consumers look for brands that help them establish a positive self-regard by influencing others to perceive them as attractive, popular and on-trend.

Security — Consumers look for brands that they can trust and rely on.

Exploration — Consumers look for brands that are pioneers of their industry, that can evoke excitement and anticipation, or that encourage their customers to try and learn new things or express themselves creatively.

Despite the overall importance of BASE needs globally, individuals differ on the relative value they place on them. For example, one consumer might prioritize belonging over their need for exploration. Our tool for uncovering these differences across consumers is called BASE-IC – short for Individual Classification.

A brand marketing a vehicle to people who are motivated largely by exploration might promote it as being the ideal roadtrip companion, with content showing it amid rugged, untouched terrain. To market the same vehicle to those motivated by security, a brand could tout its safety features. Two shoppers may choose the same vehicle while being spurred by entirely different motivations.

Knowing people’s motivations, their needs and wants, goes hand-in-hand with understanding how they identify themselves to ensure that a brand is relevant to them. Without relevance, a brand will find it difficult to attract new customers, as well as to keep existing ones coming back. What’s more, organizations that understand motivation and relevance – their intersections and interdependencies – are better equipped to develop and refine products and services likely to help them achieve customer-centric growth.

For instance, a major commercial airline created a booking service to help those who bought plane tickets research and book the rest of their trip, using their flight information to make customized suggestions. While the booking service was successful in encouraging rental-car reservations, it wasn’t generating the anticipated revenue from hotel bookings. The airline subsequently turned to Material to better understand the motivations and mindsets of customers in need of hotel reservations. We leveraged qualitative and quantitative research and digital analytics to identify three context-driven booking mindsets, each with its own distinct motivations. Then we were able to create personalized research and booking journeys for each mindset, delivering the most relevant information to each when and how they would be most motivated to complete booking. In other words – we unlocked relevance by focusing on motivation.

Motivation is just one of six science principles Material has successfully used to unlock human insights that enable brands to transform their business outcomes. Download our free e-book, Six Science Principles for Deeper Human Insights, to discover all six principles and how they apply to your most common, and complex, challenges.