Integrating control theory, evolutionary psychology, and a
hierarchical approach to personality, this book presents a new
approach to motivation, personality, and consumer behavior. Called
the 3M, which stands for Meta-theoretic Model of Motivation', this
theory seeks to account for how personality traits interact with
the situation to influence consumer attitudes and actions. The book
proposes that multiple personality traits combine to form a
motivational network that acts to influence behavior. Mowen argues
that in order to understand the causes of enduring behavioral
tendencies, one must identify the more abstract traits underlying
surface behaviors. In constructing the 3M model, the author reports
data from fifteen empirical studies employing over 3500
respondents. In this hierarchical model, four types of personality
traits are identified: elemental, compound, situational, and
surface traits. Eight elemental traits are proposed as forming the
underlying dimensions of personality. Consistent with control
theory, the research reveals that the elemental traits combine to
form compound traits, such as self-efficacy, task orientation,
playfulness, and competitiveness. These elemental and compound
traits combine with situational influences to cause enduring
behavioral tendencies within general situational contexts. Examples
of situational traits investigated include impulsive buying, value
consciousness, sports interest, and health motivation. In the 3M
model the elemental, compound, and situational traits combine to
yield surface traits, which are enduring dispositions to act in
specific behavioral contexts. Five surface traits are empirically
investigated in the book: compulsive buying, sports participation,
healthy diet lifestyles, proneness to bargaining, and a tendency to
frugality. Across these five studies, the empirical results reveal
that the 3M model accounts for over 44% of the variance in the
surface trait measures. By presenting a new meta-theory of
motivation and personality that is testable, Mowen's 3M model
accounts for high levels of variance in consumer behavior. By
integrating the work of selected past and current theorists into a
comprehensible whole, the 3M model provides coherence in a field
currently dominated by conflicting ideas, theories, and approaches.
The book provides evidence that by understanding the individual
dispositions that underlie consumer behavior, public policy
officials and marketing specialists can develop better
communication programs to influence and persuade their target
audiences. The book shows how to employ the 3M model to segment the
marketplace, provide psychographic inventories, position brands,
create promotional themes, and develop brand personalities.
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