Consumers are motivated sometimes to achieve a goal and other times to avoid one. So in this section, we're going to look at how consumers experience motivational conflicts that can impact their purchase decisions. To do this, we have to understand that a goal has valence. This means it can be positive or negative. We direct our behavior toward goals we value positively, we're motivated to approach the goal and to seek out products that will help us to reach it. However, as we saw in the learning module, sometimes we're also motivated to avoid a negative outcome rather than achieve a positive outcome.

Products such as deodorants and mouthwash frequently rely on consumers negative motivation, when ads to pick the owner is social consequences of underarm odor or bad breath. We refer to an approach avoidance conflict as one that occurs when we desire a goal, but wish to avoid it at the same time. So sometimes we're quite ambivalent about the needs we want to satisfy. For example, a woman who wears a fur coat may have some regrets about the statement she's making about animal cruelty, but still also covered the luxury and status of a fur coat. And of course, we're often tempted by food products that aren't exactly too good for us. So we can kind of be caught between a rock and a hard place.

And we often have to make decisions that resolve these conflicts. For example, should I spend money to fix up my old car or should I buy a new car? So in these situations, marketers might address an avoidance avoidance conflict with messages that stress the unforeseen benefits. of choosing one option, for example, when they emphasize special credit plans to ease the pain of car payments. The takeaway here is to identify your customers conflicts and help him or her to resolve them. Much like you might address objections before you close a sale.