Some consumer researchers distinguish between "rational" motives and
"emotional" motives. They use the term "rationality" in the traditional
economic sense that assume that consumers behave rationally when they (1)______
carefully consider all alternatives and choose those that give them the greatest
utility (i.e. satisfaction) in a marketed context. The term "rationality" (2)______
implies that the consumer selects goods based on totally objective criteria,
such as size, weight, price, and so on. "Emotional" motives imply the
selection of goods according to impersonal or subjective criteria--the desire for (3)______
individuality, pride, fear, affection or status.
The assumption underlying this distinction is that subjective or
emotional criteria do not maximize satisfaction; therefore, it is reasonable to (4)______
assume that consumers always attempt to select alternatives that, in their
view, serve to minimize satisfaction. Obviously, the assessment of satisfaction (5)______
is a very personal process, based on the individual’s own needs as well
as on past behavior, social, and learning experiences. What may appear as (6)______
irrational to an outside observer may be perfect rational within the context (7)______
of the consumer’s own psychological field. If behavior did not appear rational
to the person who undertakes at the time that it is undertaken, obviously (8)______
he or she would not do it. Therefore the distinction between rational and
emotional motives does not appear to be warranted.
Some researchers go so far as to suggest that emphasis of "needs" (9)______
obscures the rational, or conscious, nature of most consumer motivation. They
claim that consumers act consciously to maximize their gains and minimize
their losses; that they act on not from subconscious drives but from rational (10)______
preferences.