We need to talk about how we’re approaching consumer motivation in marketing. We’re drowning in surface-level analysis and recycled ideas that barely scratch the surface of what actually drives purchasing decisions.
- If you’re tired of reading the same warmed-over theories about customer behavior, stick with us here — we’ll show you what’s really happening under the hood.
- And no, this isn’t another “Psychology 101” overview that you’ve seen a thousand times. We’re diving into real insights from the mobile gaming industry, where motivation isn’t just theory — it’s profit or loss.
- Whether you’re trying to convince your team to rethink their approach to consumer psychology or just want to cut through the noise, this is your roadmap.
We know another article about marketing motivation might make your eyes glaze over, but we promise this isn’t your typical theoretical deep dive. We’re getting into the practical stuff that actually moves the needle.
Ready to see what your competitors are missing about consumer motivation? Let’s get into it.
The Rise of Motivation-Based Marketing
Markets are saturated, and customer acquisition costs are high. To cut through the noise, marketers across industries are turning to motivation-based strategies. This trend is particularly evident in the mobile gaming sector. In 2024, the average cost per install (CPI) for gaming apps increased by over 100% year-over-year globally.
These challenges aren’t unique to gaming. Brands in sectors from e-commerce to B2B services are all grappling with rising customer acquisition costs. The key question is: how can we better understand and leverage what motivates consumers?
The Promise of Understanding Consumer Motivations
The appeal of motivation-based marketing is clear and compelling:
A Nielsen study found that 47% of ROI in advertising comes from creative, and only 9% comes from targeting. By appealing to consumer motivations, marketers hope to create more resonant and effective campaigns that drive consumer action. Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” states: “Understanding what motivates your audience is the key to creating messages that not only capture attention but also drive action.” This insight underscores the importance of understating the psychology behind consumer behavior.
Intrinsic motivation, in particular, plays a key role in consumer decision-making. Unlike extrinsic motivators like discounts or limited-time offers, intrinsic motivation taps into a consumer’s personal desires, values, and goals. By aligning marketing communications with these intrinsic motivators, brands can create deeper, more meaningful connections with their audience.
The Oversimplification Trap
However, many marketers fall into the trap of oversimplifying consumer motivations. This is evident in popular frameworks like:
- Facebook’s guide to player motivations in gaming, which presents just eight motivation archetypes.
- The widely-used VALS (Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles) framework, which puts consumers into eight psychographic segments.
While these models can provide a starting point, they raise critical questions:
How accurately do these archetypes represent the complex motivations of real consumers? How can marketers determine which archetypes apply to their target audience? The danger lies in assuming that all consumers within a segment are motivated by the same factors. This oversimplification can lead to generic marketing messages that fail to resonate with individual consumers.
The Complexity of Human Motivations
The reality is that human motivation is incredibly complex. While Dr. Steven Reiss identified 16 fundamental motivators, each with multiple subfactors, recent advancements in psychological assessment have revealed an even more nuanced picture.
Solsten has pioneered an approach that measures hundreds of psychological traits, including personality, values, intrinsic motivations, and socio-cultural attributes. This comprehensive methodology provides a much more detailed understanding of consumer motivations compared to simplified models.
Key motivations can vary widely based on factors such as:
- Personal values and beliefs
- Cultural background
- Life stage and experiences
- Situational context
Understanding these nuances is necessary for creating marketing strategies that truly resonate with and influence consumers. Solsten’s approach allows marketers to capture this complexity and translate it into actionable insights.
A Data-Driven Approach to Motivation in Marketing
To leverage motivation effectively in marketing, we propose a four-step process, enhanced by Solsten’s advanced methodologies:
- Identify your product or service’s appeal on a motivational level, not just demographically.
- Determine which motivational profiles have the highest customer lifetime value (LTV).
- Identify the core motivating traits among these high-value customers.
- Build creative that emphasizes these specific motivating traits.
Solsten’s adaptive psychological assessment technology plays an important role in this process. Unlike traditional fixed questionnaires, Solsten’s AI-powered adaptive assessments tailor questions in real-time based on previous responses. This approach allows for more accurate and efficient gathering of psychological data, leading to more precise motivational profiles.
Step-by-Step Implementation:
- Gather Data: Use Solsten’s adaptive assessments to collect detailed information about your customers’ motivations.
- Analyze Patterns: Leverage Solsten’s advanced analytics to identify common themes and correlations between motivations and customer value.
- Create Motivational Profiles: Develop detailed profiles using Solsten’s comprehensive trait measurements, going far beyond basic demographics.
- Design Targeted Campaigns: Craft marketing messages that align with these nuanced motivational profiles. Then, you can test and refine from a significantly advanced starting point.
Case Study: Lessons from Mobile Gaming
The mobile gaming industry provides valuable insights into the power of detailed motivational analysis. Solsten’s psychological insights have been used by studios of all sizes to optimize creative.
For example, Mythical Games demonstrated this approach with their game NFL Rivals:
- They used Solsten’s software to gain quantitative data on their players’ motivations and identify their highest LTV persona.
- They created a new ad based on the top motivating trait identified by Solsten’s analysis.
- The result: Cost per install (CPI) for the new ad was 50% lower than their previous high-performing ad.
This granular approach to understanding player motivations allowed them to create highly targeted, effective marketing campaigns. By focusing on specific motivational traits rather than broad archetypes, they were able to create ads that resonated more deeply with their audience.
The Future of Motivation in Marketing
As technology advances, our ability to understand and respond to consumer motivations will only grow. Solsten is at the forefront of this evolution, continuously improving its AI models and pushing the boundaries of psychological assessment in marketing.
Solsten’s approach combines the power of AI and machine learning with rigorous psychological science. This allows for the analysis of vast amounts of consumer data, identifying patterns and motivational factors that traditional methods might miss. As Solsten’s technology evolves, it promises to provide even more nuanced and actionable insights into consumer motivations.
Harnessing the Power of Motivation
Understanding what motivates consumers is not just about driving sales; it’s about creating meaningful connections between brands and people. By taking a nuanced, data-driven approach to motivation in marketing, brands can:
- Create more resonant marketing messages
- Improve customer acquisition and retention
- Enhance overall customer experience
- Build stronger, more authentic brand relationships
Solsten’s scientifically-backed approach to understanding consumer motivations offers brands a powerful tool for creating effective, resonant marketing strategies that drive long-term success. By leveraging Solsten’s insights, marketers can move beyond simplistic archetypes and truly understand the complex, multifaceted nature of human motivation.
