Impacts of Extrinsic Motivators on Consumer Purchases (Essay Sample)

Impacts of Extrinsic Motivation on Purchase Behavior Student's Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor Date Abstract Analyzing the impacts of extrinsic motivators can aid businesses in making effective decisions that impact their performance levels. This paper will analyze and explore some of these attributes and how companies incorporate them into their strategic processes. Based on the historical, innovative, and cross-cultural context of these approaches as the key premise of the research, it is possible to understand the foundations of the study. Taken as isolated attributes, these factors impact how organizations incorporate motivators to influence customers' purchasing decisions. Nonetheless, they have notable impacts on business decisions and can play key roles in informing businesses that are already running and starters. The implications of these attributes comprise a significant part of the research as they could be analyzed based on the secondary studies that exist in the area. The study proposes using an ethnographic design incorporating online shoppers as participants. Such an approach could provide valuable insights into business decisions and, more essentially, offer key recommendations on how entrepreneurs across different industries could incorporate the ideas into their business decisions. Past studies underpin interactions between higher performance and effective motivators in decision-making. The input of specific theories and concepts, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the Consumer Decision-Making Process, is essential in evaluating the ideas in the subject area. These perspectives could provide deeper insights into entrepreneurs' strategic approaches and methods in making business decisions. Overall, these perspectives will lead to making deductions on the possibility of relying on extrinsic motivators to persuade customers to purchase products and services. Impacts of Extrinsic Motivation on Purchase Behavior Introduction 1.1 Overview The stiff competition marking most modern markets has resorted to strategies that could help them achieve a competitive advantage over other firms in their industries. Based on the studies encompassing consumer purchasing, the process is associated with complexities influenced by wide-ranging social, cultural, psychological, and economic factors (Ali et al., 2020). Generally, some motivational factors influencing consumer purchasing behavior include need recognition, information, search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, post-purchase evaluation, and psychological motivations (Ardeshiri & Rose, 2018). Companies must understand the significance of these attributes, especially considering how they align with their respective market spaces. Need recognition is one of the key aspects of consumer motivation, as it entails recognizing the need or wants of a particular product or service (Baskaran et al., 2017). Thus, companies must acknowledge the functional aspect of a product, noting how this attribute could influence the consumer to make a purchase. Information search is also one of the consumer motivations as the availability of information on a product or service is vital in aiding the consumer in making purchasing decisions. The evaluation of alternatives, comprising the available options that consumers have, impacts their decision to make a purchase (Arli et al., 2021). The variety aspect includes such criteria as quality, price, special features, brand, and reputation. Studies on this subject also suggest that psychological motivations are integral in influencing consumer purchases. Some of these attributes include products that align with the consumers' self-identity or social status. This factor has attracted researchers' attention, especially considering how emotional factors could influence one to make a purchase. Consumers are motivated to make critical purchase decisions based on the product's ability to help them overcome a certain comfort, including purchasing products that address health concerns. 1.2 Introduction to Extrinsic Motivations A significant part of consumer purchase discourse encompasses extrinsic motivations' influence. Based on the common definition by authors who have focused on the subject area, these motivations comprise factors that can drive behavior on external rewards or consequences, as opposed to internal desires or interests (Beck & Crie, 2018). Based on this definition, extrinsic attributes comprise tangible and measurable outcomes, including money, status, and recognition. The attributes are typically the attributes that are driven or dictated by social norms, authority figures, and the desire to avoid punishment. While these attributes comprise a significant part of psychological discourses, business researchers have borrowed them as premises to assess consumer behavior (Yang, 2021). When analyzed from the entrepreneurial point of view, the extrinsic motivations that impact consumer behavior forms a significant part of modern discourses because of the changes transpiring across most business environments. In the business landscape, extrinsic motivations significantly improve business models and strategies. Based on modern research, these attributes take center stage in incentivizing employees and customers (Beyari & Abareshi, 2016). Therefore, when running a business, it is imperative that entrepreneurs understand what motivates them and, more so, the strategies to integrate these factors to appeal to the market. Several extrinsic motivations are used in modern business markets (Yang et al., 2016). One of these approaches is the sales incentive. Many businesses incorporate this approach in motivating their sales team. Some of these incentives include bonuses, commissions, or prizes. Second, in an organizational setting, extrinsic motivations include loyalty programs, employee recognition programs, gamification, and referral programs. 1.4 Extrinsic Motivations in Consumer Behavior The extrinsic factors that influence consumer motivation comprise attributes that are beyond the control of an individual, which could include social, cultural, economic, and technological factors. Culture, incorporating shared beliefs, values, customs, and practices, can influence consumer behavior, including their preference for specific products and brands (Bhuto et al., 2020). The Social factors as extrinsic motivators could include the influence of family and friends, including the interactions within social spaces leading to decisions on what to purchase. The Economic dimension of the extrinsic factors comprises the ability to buy, willingness to spend, and level of demand for certain products (Edinger-Schons et al., 2018). Political aspects can also qualify under the extrinsic factors that impact consumer behavior, considering how changes in government policy can affect the consumer's perception of specific products and services (Chen & Antonelli, 2020). Lastly, environmental factors also qualify under this category of motivation as such attributes as weather, climate, and geography can influence the consumer's decision to purchase a specific product. Overall, there are several attributes that business organizations must heed to improve how they push products to their target and existing consumers within the existing markets. 1.3 Research Objective While there has been extensive research on consumer purchase motivations, exploring the cultural implications of extrinsic factors is necessary. This is a significant area to explore, considering culture's position in business operations, including the approaches entrepreneurs use to appeal to their respective markets. Based on these standpoints, this research will utilize a thematic approach, considering the historical, cross-cultural, and innovative themes related to the input of extrinsic factors that influence consumer behavior. Such an approach would facilitate using a case study approach in assessing how businesses could adopt specific strategies to improve their performance and realize the set goals. 2.0 Themes This section of the paper will comprise themes that will aid in arriving at meaningful deductions at the end of the study. The thematic subjects incorporated into the area will include historical, cross-cultural, and innovational attributes related to consumer decisions. These sections will be covered sequentially in the paper and, in the end, will inform an intersectional point of view on the subject area. 2.1 Historical Theme Businesses should understand the historical landscape of extrinsic factors regarding the consumer decision-making process. This attribute is essential as it would aid a common entrepreneur in understanding how the business area has evolved with time and its significance in their respective industries (Carlcucci et al., 2018). The early studies of marketing research suggest that the key focus of extrinsic factors of consumer behavior delved more into understanding consumer needs and preferences associated with the products they deem capable of satisfying those needs. In these studies, researchers suggest that the key focus was intrinsic factors (Chen et al., 2018). Nonetheless, the realization that many organizations focused on this aspect, noting its implications on business behaviors, researchers resorted to assessing more attributes regarding the extrinsic elements that could be incorporated to improve business decisions and business goals (Yan et al., 2019). Under this subject area, it is imperative to break down the key periods that shaped the approaches and practices associated with modern business practices. 2. 1.1 1950-1960 A wide number of discourses focus on the changes that transpired between the 1950-1960s leading to the adoption of extrinsic approaches to influence consumer decisions through business strategies. One of the key perspectives attributed to this period is that the peri...