Consumer Behavior Models: Decision Making Model, Maslow\'s

¶ … consumer behavior models: decision making model, Maslow's hierarchy, Freudian Theory, Non- Freudian theory, Trait theory, learning process.

Reflect individually on how your understanding and interpretation of the consumer decision-making process might influence your thinking when applying marketing principles in future business roles.

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, all human beings are driven to fulfill certain needs and desires, but some needs are perceived as having priority over other needs. Until basic needs such as food and shelter are met, the individual cannot think about higher-level needs like social approval and self-actualization (Simmons et al. 1997). When consumers are making choices about what to buy and what not to buy, Maslow's hierarchy often seems to be operating in a clear and logical fashion. During a recession, most consumers cut back on luxury items designed to impress others, like restaurant meals and name-brand clothing. Consumers who are struggling with their budget are more apt to be attracted by the low price tag of a product, while a wealthier customer is still more attracted by the image a product conveys.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs presumes a certain logical basis to consumer decisions, as do more general consumer decision-making models. Decision-making models assume that consumers rationally consider their options, their budget, their personal priorities, and make decisions based upon the available data. However, in direct contradiction to rationalistic decision-making models, consumers apparently make irrational choices all of the time. They take out mortgages they cannot afford, buy unhealthy fast food because it is cheap even though it causes expensive health complaints later on, and may buy costly products simply because they like the commercial.

Clearly, subconscious elements also affect buying decisions, although practical limitations such as price will also have an impact upon consumer behavior. Sigmund Freud's theory of the subconscious and the fact that apparently irrational behaviors can be explained by unconscious motivations can be seen when an older man buys a small, impractical sports car in the hopes of reclaiming his lost youth or a woman buys a weight loss product despite having failed at diets many times in the past. Cognitive dissonance, or the tendency to try to make the world conform to our pre-existing belief structures, also explains this type of unproductive thinking (Oxoby 2004).

Furthermore, not all consumers respond in the same fashion to advertising. As the idea of 'trait' theory reflects, different messages and methods of transmission are perceived by personality types in different ways. Market segmentation is vital in advertising, not just in terms of consumer demographics, but also in terms of the likely character of the prospective consumer. A 'thinking' type of consumer might be persuaded by logical arguments; a 'feeling' type by personal impressions of the product. That is why products like name-brand soft drinks and expensive shoes are sold using advertising that tends to evoke a viewer's feelings rather than rational thought. After all, there is no logical reason to buy such products. Consumers, to whom these products appeal, trait theory suggests, are more apt to be emotionally motivated than a rationalist who buys the cheapest items at the grocery store and the mall.