The Science of Why: Decoding Human Motivation and Transforming Marketing Strategy

256 Pages·2014·7.164 MB·English

by  Dr David Forbes, D Forbes

The Science of Why
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The Science of Why
Decoding Human Motivation and
Transforming Marketing Strategy
David Forbes
the science of why
Copyright © David Forbes, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-50203-2
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-69937-7 ISBN 978-1-137-50204-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137502049
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Forbes, David L.
The science of why : decoding human motivation and transforming marketing
strategy / by David Forbes.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Consumer behavior. 2. Motivation (Psychology) 3. Marketing—
Psychological aspects. 4. Consumers—Research. I. Title.
HF5415.32.F67 2015
658.8342—dc23 2015002535
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: June 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Marketing to Motivation 13
Chapter 2 Introducing the MindSight Motivational Matrix 25
Chapter 3 Introducing the Intrapsychic Motivations 35
Chapter 4 The Security Motive 53
Chapter 5 The Identity Motive 75
Chapter 6 The Mastery Motive 93
Chapter 7 Introducing the Instrumental Motivations 111
Chapter 8 The Empowerment Motive 121
Chapter 9 The Engagement Motive 135
Chapter 10 The Achievement Motive 145
Chapter 11 Introducing the Interpersonal Motivations 157
Chapter 12 The Belonging Motive 171
Chapter 13 The Nurturance Motive 185
Chapter 14 The Esteem Motive 197
Chapter 15 The Scholarship on Motivation 215
vi l Contents
Chapter 16 MindSight: Learning to Talk to the Emotional Brain 223
Chapter 17 Epilogue 235
Notes 239
Image Permissions 247
Index 249
Preface
This book is a result of nearly three decades of conversations with
people—about their everyday lives, about the choices they make
in those lives, and about the thoughts and emotions that lie behind
those choices. My colleagues at Forbes Consulting and I have been fortunate
to have an exceptionally wide range of topics in these conversations as we
pursued commissions from clients ranging from health care to home care,
banking to breakfast cereals, colas to convertibles. I want to begin this book
with a heartfelt thanks to all those consumers who gave us their time and let
us into their lives.
The ideas about motivation in this book have been distilled from themes
that emerged time and again in our work. We searched naturally for a com-
mon set of core motives behind behavior and for a map of motivational space
that would help us “put legs” on our motivational insights so that a business
manager could actually use these insights to do a better job. The structured
model of human motivation we call the Forbes Matrix was developed to
assist us in that task. It helps clients to reach a broader overall understanding
of motivation and also gives them a compelling vision of how to speak to and
leverage the specific motivations operating in their market. I would also like
to thank each and every one of those clients whose business interests led us to
examine a wonderful diversity of windows on everyday life and whose busi-
ness challenges became for us a passport to deep emotional learning.
I hope that your passage through the pages of this volume lets you experi-
ence a small portion of the excitement and wisdom that comes from a lifetime
of consumer research and marketing consulting.
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Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the assistance of my
colleagues at the Forbes Consulting Group whose collective efforts
helped bring a theoretical vision into scientific reality. Jeremy Pincus,
in particular, gave generously of his counsel and spent countless hours of
his time working out the details of the MindSight research tools. My writ-
ing assistant and coach, Julie Penfold, transformed this manuscript from an
academic monologue into an interesting and accessible narrative. My good
friend David May supported my efforts from the very beginning and pro-
vided me with real-world opportunities to refine and perfect both the theory
and practice described in the book. My editor at Palgrave Macmillan, Laurie
Harting, has given both support and guidance as I moved from a loose draft
to a completed manuscript. My copy editor Sabine Seiler did a stellar job
taming my sometimes unruly syntax and more. My children Emma and
Duncan offered endless hours of patient listening as sounding boards over
the years in which I developed my ideas. And my wife Ginny Sherwood as
critic, editor, and all-around giver of support was nothing short of essential
to my actually getting the work done, getting it right, and staying sane
throughout the process.