Discussion: Consumer Motivation, Decision Making, and Diffusion

This assignment presents a discussion on consumer motivation, consumer decision making and the diffusion of innovation. The first post analyzes consumer motivation, referencing Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a Nike advertisement, exploring the impact of such advertisements on materialism. The second post examines consumer decisions and experiences through the lens of the diffusion theory of innovation, using McDonald's as an example and questioning whether MNCs should target only risk-takers. The third post, also provided in the assignment brief, further elaborates on the diffusion process as a social process, the different adopter categories and the characteristics of innovation. The assignment aims to explore the theories and concepts related to consumer behavior and marketing strategies.

Running head: POSTS
POSTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POSTS
Post 1: Motivation
The consumer motivation can be mentioned to be phenomena which can be made use of
in order to see to it that the different customers can be motivated in the right manner and to see to
it that the products which are offered by the brand fulfill a need of the customers. The need and
the want of the customer is closely related to the overall consumer motivation and hence, the
various enterprises would be essentially required to ensure that, the various consumer needs and
related levels are targeted (Lepper & Greene, 2015). The Maslow`s need theory is a popular
theory of motivation which essentially mentions that, all individuals have different levels of
needs and hence, in consideration of this, the firm would be required to target a particular level
using which a need can be fulfilled. These need levels also help in the segmentation procedure
which assists the enterprises in targeting their customers accordingly. Hence, the enterprise
would be required to measure the motives and target the consumer base accordingly.
As per the video, the Nike as an enterprise tends to target the customers who have set
health goals for themselves. These individuals have taken a pledge to remain fit and this goals
usually tends to motivate them to perform well (Peters, 2015). Hence, in association with this,
the Motivation of the consumers has been used well by Nike whereby, the advertisement shows
the journey of individuals to excel in his health goals and remain fit. The Nike as a brand touches
the psychological and physical needs of the customers and reflects how they can help in
achieving the goal, thereby motivating the customers to achieve their goals and take the help of
Nike alongside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYP9AGtLvRg
Do you think such advertisements give rise to materialism?

2POSTS
References
Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (Eds.). (2015). the hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on the
psychology of human motivation. Psychology Press.
Peters, R. S. (2015). The concept of motivation. Routledge.

3POSTS
Post 2: Consumer decisions and experiences
The diffusion theory of innovation has a greater role to play in seeing to it that, the
consumer decisions and the experiences can be influenced accordingly. The diffusion theory of
innovation talks about the manner in which the `adopters` who are the customers generally tend
to adopt a particular product and what their decision making procedure is based on. In
consideration of this, the Diffusion theory lays down the five different stages which have to be
essentially followed by an enterprise before the product becomes popular (Acharn et al., 2016).
In association with this, it becomes effective to consider that, the firm would be required to
present the properties of the products accordingly in order to see to it that, the consumer is being
able to make use of the product and in association with this, the firm is being able to convince
the consumers in regard to the use of the product.
Here, the example of Mc Donald’s can be taken. The Mc Donald’s had been launched in
different countries at different time phases and in consideration with this, they will be required to
see to it that they are essentially being able to target the different countries in a manner such that
the consumer psychology and the consumer decision making can be targeted accordingly
(Karimi, Papamichail & Holland, 2015). In consideration with this, the countries who are more
open while decision making are the early adopters whereas, the countries where the different
target members are not that liberal and take time at the decision making and hence, are the
majority adopters who tend to undertake the different decisions regarding a particular product at
a rather later stage when the product is already a success. The risk taking ability has a critical
impact on the decision making and acceptance of innovation on the side of the organization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMLrVP_E-jA
Do you believe that the MNCs should only target population which is daring and are risk
takers?

4POSTS
References
Achar, C., So, J., Agrawal, N., & Duhachek, A. (2016). What we feel and why we buy: the
influence of emotions on consumer decision-making. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10,
166-170.
Karimi, S., Papamichail, K. N., & Holland, C. P. (2015). The effect of prior knowledge and
decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of
consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, 137-147.