FEAR OF SUCCESS: REACTION TO ADVERTISING STIMULI AND INTENTION-TO-PURCHASE.
Item
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Title
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FEAR OF SUCCESS: REACTION TO ADVERTISING STIMULI AND INTENTION-TO-PURCHASE.
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Identifier
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AAI8014960
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identifier
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8014960
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Creator
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COUGHLIN, MAUREEN.
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Contributor
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Dr. Conrad Berenson | Dr. Sidney Lirtzman
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Business Administration, Marketing
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Abstract
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Marketers have devoted considerable time and effort researching the perceptual and motivational processes of the individual in order to gain a better understanding of consumer behavior. As a result, practitioners have determined that product success is, in large part, a function of the perceived product imagery and the consumer's motivation to purchase the product. In other words, promotional strategies emphasizing important product benefits may have little or no effect on sales when the motivation to purchase is weak. This study examines the issue that a consumer's perception of an advertisement can result in an avoidance motivation negatively affecting purchase behavior.;A review of the literature in psychology on the motive to avoid success (fear of success, F(,s)), originally identified by Horner, 1968, is presented as a prerequisite for establishing a consumer behavior application. Previous research on the motive to avoid success was facilitated through the utilization of projective verbal cues and competition in mixed-sex situations. The studies indicated that a verbal cue representing a woman in a successful, normally male-linked, situation arouses the motive to avoid success in women. Fear of success was found to be characteristic of single, high need achievement women in situations arousing the motive.;The application of this motivational theory to consumer behavior is the subject of this dissertation. In this study, projective pictorial cues in the form of advertisements portraying varying female roles are used as stimuli to identify fear of success in female consumers. Purchase intentions are examined to study the relationship between the arousal of F(,s) and avoidance behavior. The avoidance behavior is defined as a negative intent to purchase the advertised product.;An "after only with control" experimental design was employed to test the hypotheses. The data were collected by personally interviewing a quota sample of 420 New York City residents. Each respondent was exposed to one of the four experimental advertisements and instructed to write a story about the woman portrayed. In addition, responses to a nine part questionnaire were also obtained from those who participated in the experiment.;Although limited by problems of sampling distribution, the results of this consumer behavior study suggest that a particular segment of women experience F(,s) as a reaction to an advertisement portraying a woman in a successful, atypical female role. The arousal of the motive apparently results in a negative intent to purchase the advertised product. The segment of women experiencing F(,s) are young, high need achievers. Although further research is needed, it is suggested that marketers might avoid appealing to this particular market segment by associating their product with a successful woman.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Business
