CONSUMER BUYING MOTIVES

CONSUMER BUYING MOTIVES

 

Why people buy things? One may say other reasons like personal reasons, psychological reasons, social, economic reasons etc. Under consumer behaviour study, all these reasons are together called buying motives. Buying motive is the reason why the consumer purchase goods.

Motive is the inner urge which initiates action. It makes the man active and it is the reason why people do things. Thus, for buying action also, there must be motive. The motive behind the buying action, is called buying motive.

From where this motive arises? Motive has the primary roots in Needs and it grows through wants and desires and drives to motive. When you reach at Motive you start your action. Thus, Motive becomes the driving force behind the purchase of goods.

Motive refers to thoughts, urges, feelings, emotions and drives which make the buyer to react in the form of a decision.

According to Prof. D J Duncan, buying motives are those influences or considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action and determine choice in the purchase of goods and services.

Types of Buying Motives

Motives may be physical, psychological or social. Money, vanity, rivalry, cleanliness, amusement, companionship, ambition, reverence, affection, taste, sex, curiosity, sympathy, gratitude, patriotism etc. etc. can be the forms of motives.

Different authors, experts and researchers have classified buying motives in different ways. According to Malvin S. Hatrick, there are two types of buying motives. Primary and secondary buying motives.

Primary Buying Motives

Primary Buying Motives are found in man since his birth. These are related to the basic needs of human being such as hunger, thirst, sleep, sex etc. It is because of these needs people get motivated to purchase the goods and services.

Secondary Buying Motives

Secondary Buying Motives are learnt from society and social life. These motives are those, which are influenced by the society where the buyer is born and lives. These motives may have various forms such as curiosity, comfort, security, love, affection etc.

According to Charles B Roth, there are seven motives such as Health, wealth, gratification of appetite, amusement, security, vanity and self-improvement.

According to Alfred Gross, the motives may be Emotional or Rational. Emotional Motives

Emotional motives have no logical base, it is simply because of the emotions of the buyer.

Rational Motives

Rational motives are motives occur due to logical thinking and analysis.

Another classification is as Conscious and Dormant Buying Motives

Conscious Buying Motives

The conscious buying motives are such motives, generate from the sub conscious mind. These motives are created from within the human beings. Therefore, these are not influenced by the external environmental factors. Here the marketer has no role.

Dormant Buying Motives

The dormant buying motives are silent motives. Normally such motives are not active and do not influence the buyers until their attention is invited by the marketing functions. A consumer does not possess even the knowledge of such needs without the persuasion of marketing activities. That means the dormant motives are enacted or aroused and become active when external stimulus is incurred. Marketers try to enact such motives through advertisements and other sales promotion techniques.

Another classification is done by Prof. D. J. Duncan. According to him, motives may be Product Buying Motives and Patronage Buying Motives

Product Buying Motives

Product buying motives motivate a person towards purchasing a certain product. It is the motive to get certain special product. This motive is a generated by the features of the product such as design, colour, size, package, quality, price etc.

Patronage Buying Motives

Patronage motive is the motive to buy the product from a certain seller or producer. Thus, the motive is to buy product from a particular shop or from a particular producer is called Patronage Buying Motive. It may be because of certain advantages, such as home delivery of goods purchased, reasonable price, location of the shop, demonstration of the product and the good behaviour of the seller etc. Reliability of the seller, punctuality on delivery, promptness, securing exact fulfilment of specifications, variety for selection, engineering and designing services, and dependable repairing service, etc. may also be the basis of patronage motive.

In relation to this classification, the product motives and patronage motives have been again divided into two as emotional and rational. Thus, there are Emotional Product Motives and Rational Product Motives. Similarly, under Patronage Motive, there are Emotional Patronage Motives and Rational Patronage Motives.