Motivation

Introduction

People are motivated by many things, some positive others not.  Some motivating factors can move people only a short time, like hunger which will last only until you are fed.  Others can drive a person onward for years. 

Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action. Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.

Needs:

Needs are the essence of the marketing concept.  Marketers do not create needs but can make consumers aware of needs. A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the need for a nationalized health care system. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of politics, social science, and philosophy.

Types of Needs

·         Innate Needs: Physiological (or biogenic) needs that are considered primary needs or motives

·         Acquired Needs: Learned in response to our culture or environment.  Are generally psychological and considered secondary needs

Goals:

A goal or objective is a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. It is the sought-after results of motivated behavior.

Types of goals:

·         Generic goals: are general categories of goals that consumers see as a way to fulfill their needs

·         Product-specific goals: Are specifically branded products or services that consumers select as their goals

Positive and negative motivation:

Positive motivation is a response which includes enjoyment and optimism about the tasks that you are involved in. Positive motivation induces people to do work in the best possible manner and to improve their performance. Under this better facilities and rewards are provided for their better performance. Such rewards and facilities may be financial and non-financial.

Negative motivation aims at controlling the negative efforts of the work and seeks to create a sense of fear for the worker, which he has to suffer for lack of good performance. It is based on the concept that if a worker fails in achieving the desired results, he should be punished. Negative motivation involves undertaking tasks because there will be undesirable outcomes, e.g. failing a subject, if tasks are not completed.

Almost all students will experience positive and negative motivation, as well as loss of motivation, at different times during their life at University.

Both positive and negative motivation aim at inspiring the will of the people to work but they differ in their approaches. Whereas one approaches the people to work in the best possible manner providing better monetary and non-monetary incentives, the other tries to induce the man by cutting their wages and other facilities and amenities on the belief that man works out of fear.

Definition of Motivation:

Motivation is an inspirational process which impels the members of the team to pull their weight effectively to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out the tasks properly that they have accepted, and generally to play an effective part in the job that the group has undertaken.

In the words of Michael Jucious, ‘motivation is the act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a desired course of action, to push the right button to get a desired reaction’.

S. Zedeek and M. Blood define, ‘Motivation is a predisposition to act in a specific goal-directed way’.

Characteristics/Features of Motivation:

1. Interaction between the individual and the situation:

Motivation is not a personal trait but an interaction between the individual and the situation.

2. Goal-directed behaviour:

Motivation leads to an action that is goal oriented. Motivation leads to accomplishment of organizational goals and satisfaction of personal needs.

3. Systems oriented:

Motivation is influenced by two forces:

a. Internal forces:

These forces are internal to the individual, i.e., their needs, wants and nature.

b. External forces:

These forces are external to the individual, who may be organizational related such as management philosophy, organizational structure, and superior-subordinate relationship, and also the forces found in the external environment such as culture, customs, religion and values.

4. Positive or negative:

Positive motivation or the carrot approach offers positive incentives such as appreciation, promotion, status and incentives. Negative motivation or stick approach emphasizes penalties, fines and punishments.

5. Dynamic and complex in nature:

Human behavior is highly complex, and it becomes extremely difficult to understand people at work. Motivation is a dynamic and complex process.

Arousal of Motives:

The arousal of any particular set of needs at a specific moment in time may be caused by internal stimuli found in the individual’s physiological condition, by emotional or cognitive processes or by stimuli in outside environment.

•         Physiological arousal

•         Emotional arousal

•         Cognitive arousal

•         Environmental arousal

Physiological Arousal Bodily needs at any one specific moment in time are based on the individual physiological condition at the moment. Ex.A drop in blood sugar level or stomach contractions will trigger awareness of a hunger need. Ex..A decrease in body temperature will induce shivering, which makes individual aware of the need for warmth this type of thing, they arouse related needs that cause uncomfortable tensions until they are satisfied. Ex. Medicine, low fat and diet

Emotional Arousal Sometime daydreaming results in the arousal (autistic thinking) or stimulation of latent needs. People who are board or who are frustrated in trying to achieve their goals or often engage in daydreaming, in which they imagine themselves in all sorts of desirable situations. Ex. A young woman who may spend her free time in internet single chat room.

Cognitive arousal Sometime random thoughts can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs. An advertisement that provides reminders of home might trigger instant yearning to speak with ones parents.

Environment arousal The set of needs an individual experiences at particular time are often activated by specific cues in the environment. Without these cues the needs might remain dormant. Ex. The 8’o clock news, the sight or smell of bakery goods, fast food commercials on television, all these may arouse the need for food. Ex. New cell phone model displayed in the store window.

Philosophies Concerned with Arousal of Motives

•         Behaviorist School

–        Behavior is response to stimulus

–        Elements of conscious thoughts are to be ignored

–        Consumer does not act, but reacts

•         Cognitive School

–        Behavior is directed at goal achievement

–        Needs and past experiences are reasoned, categorized, and transformed into attitudes and beliefs

The Selection of Goals

The goals selected by an individual depend on their:

•         Personal experiences

•         Physical capacity

•         Prevailing cultural norms and values

•         Goal’s accessibility in the physical and social environment