Every consumer psychologist would love to know what motivates people to buy certain goods or services. If we knew what motives would lead to a decision to purchase, then perhaps we could create a marketing program to instill or intensify those motives among potential buyers. So why not just ask consumers about their motives? The answer is that unfortunately, most people do not know exactly what their motives are, and even if they did, they would often be unwilling to reveal their motives.
Motives may be difficult to identify but, basically, they have a pretty simple makeup. So far as we know, they only have two key properties: direction and intensity. Buying motives determine two things: what consumers want to do, and how much they want to do it. To market successfully, purchase motives first have to be directed towards your goods, not someone else's. Second, the drive has to be strong enough so that people will act on it; they have to be willing to pay the price in terms of dollars, time, and effort.
Here are some interesting and informative websites about consumer motives and motivation:
| Back to Psychology Careers | Main Careers Page | Psychology Home | Top of Page | WCU Home |
| Advertising | Perception | Life Stages | Psychology of Price |