Properties of motivation

Motivation is described through several properties:

• Motivation is composed of energy and direction. A person may or may not have enough motivation to engage in a given activity. For example, a person may be motivated enough to go and shop for food, but not enough to engage in a comprehensive exercise program.
• Motives may be overt, hidden, and multiple. Some motivations are publicly expressed (e.g., the desire to buy an energy efficient house), while others (e.g., the desire to look wealthy by buying a fancy car) are not. Individuals may also hold multiple motivations (e.g., buy a car and save money for retirement) which may conflict.
• Many motivations are driven by the desire for tension reduction (e.g., eliminate thirst or hunger).
• Motivations can be driven by both internal and external factors. That is, a person may want a painting either because he or she likes it (internal motivation) or because this will give her status among the artistic elite (external).
• Motivations may have either a positive or negative valence--people may either be motivated to achieve something (e.g., get a promotion at work) or avoid something (e.g., being hospitalized without having adequate insurance).
• Consumers are motivated to achieve goals. Achieving these goals may require sustained activity over time (e.g., exercising every day for months or years) as opposed to just taking some action once.
• Consumers maintain a balance between the desires for stability and variety. Most consumers want some variety (e.g., they do not want to eat the same meal every day), but also want a certain stability (they do not want to try an entirely new food every day).
• Motivation reflects individual differences. Different consumers are motivated to achieve different things, and it may be difficult to infer motivations from looking at actual behavior without understanding these differences in desired outcomes.