Understanding motivation

This ‘Best Practice’ looks at ‘why we buy what we do’. Although consumer motivation is an extremely complex field, this paper briefly guides the reader through the psychological and need state theories to research techniques such as laddering and conjoint analysis.

Understanding Motivation

What motivates consumers to buy?

Why do we buy what we do? This is not an easy question to answer, especially when it refers to our choice of brands, or to the kind of spending economists have long called discretionary. Yet it underlies the repeated requests by managers for 'consumer insight'.

The problem

If you ask someone why they chose a particular brand on a particular occasion, they will be unable to give you a fullreason: all you will get is a post-rationalisation. This is because brand choice and indeed the purchase itself is often...

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