MOTIVATION
an activated state within a person that leads to goal-directed behavior

motive:
a construct representing an unobservable force that stimulates and compels a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response

Needs occur when a perceived discrepancy exists between an actual and a desired state of being

Note that there are many theories of motivation:

• Don't look at these as "right" or "wrong"; they are just theories.

• None are validated, but seem intuitively logical.

A model of motivation might look like:

unsatisfied need===>
. . . . . . . . . .tension===>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . drives===>
. . . . . . . . . . . . search behavior===>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . satisfied need===>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reduction of tension

WHAT PROSPECTIVE BUYERS SAY
AND WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN:
MULTIPLE MOTIVES

Buyers usually have multiple motives for particular behaviors. These can be a combination of:

Manifest
known to the person and freely admitted

Latent
unknown to the person or the person is very reluctant to admit

Note: different motives can lead to the same behavior; observing behavior is not sufficient to determine motives.

What are the thoughts of John's friend?
What is John's manifest motive?
What might be his latent motive?

How might a salesperson discover these motives? What features should a salesperson emphasize?

WHY PEOPLE DON'T BUY WHAT
YOU KNOW THAT THEY NEEED:
MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

hypothesizes that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs:

1. Physiological
2. Safety
3. Social
4. Esteem
5. Self actualization

Maslow's and some other theories posit that some needs must be met before others can act as motivators. That is, we can expect people in different situations to be motivated in different ways and toward different goals depending on what other needs have previously been met.

According to Maslow's idea, a person will feel compelled to reach &auot;lower order" needs before being motivated to reach " higher order needs." For example, a person supposedly will want to meet physiological (e.g., food) and safety needs before being motivated toward self-actualization needs (e.g., obtaining a college degree). Many examples can be found that are at odds with this ordering, however. Consider college professors who spend many years of their lives in doctoral programs studying butterflies or music history, all the while driving unsafe old cars and often going without food because they cannot afford it.

Although the ordering of any particular set of needs can always be disputed, the idea that motivation in any given person might be associated with a hierarchy does make sense. In the above example, for instance, the graduate student held a personal set of priorities that ranked school work above basic physiological and safety needs. A life insurance agemt might believe that this thirty year old graduate student with two small children at home very much needs life insurance, and the prospect might even agree, but a sale is unlikely until the prospect first meets personal goals that are currently more important in the hierarchy.

SALESPERSON PERSONALITY:
McCLELLAND'S THREE NEEDS THEORY

1. nACH:
   need for achievement: drive to excel: drive to achieve in relation to a set of standards; to strive to succeed.

2. nPOW:
   need for power: the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.

3. nAFF:
   need for affiliation: the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.

High nACH:
Some people like goals, some do not. These people are high achieves.

• they are not gamblers

• they avoid very easy or very difficult tasks

• low odds of losing present no challenge to their skills

• high odds of losing offer no rewards from happenstance success

• get most satisfaction from "50-50 odds

High nPOW:

• these people like being "in charge"

• more interested in the prestige of power than in effective performance

High nAFF:

• these people strive for friendship

• prefer cooperative rather than competitive situations

• desire relationships with a high degree of mutual understanding

McClelland's idea suggests why it is that different people behave in different ways. We all have more or less of a need on some of these factors, making each of us motivated toward different personal goals. People who have a higher nACH would probably make better entrepreneurs or salespeople and be lousy team players. People who have a higher nPOW would probably make better leaders but could be obnoxious "armtwisters" as salespeople. People who have a higher nAFF would probably make the best team players but would lack the "self drive" to be salespeople running their own territory.

The point of this is to note that different people have different personalities.

WHY DOGS JUMP FOR BONES
BUT SALESPEOPLE WON'T:
VROOM'S EXPECTANCY THEORY

Argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of:

• an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome

• the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual

Expectancy theory posits three variables:

• attractiveness of the reward:
  the importance that the individual places on the potential outcome

• performance-reward linkage:
  the degree to which the individual believes that performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome

• effort-performance linkage:
  the probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to performance

According to expectancy theory, a person will expend effort (be motivated) when s/he believes that:

• the effort will result in favorable performance

• favorable performance will result in a desireable reward

• the reward will satisfy an important need

• the desire to satisfy that need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile

Expressed another way, a person might ask:

• What's in it for me?

• How hard will I have to work to get what's in it for me?

• What are my real chances of getting that reward if I do what you (or they) want?