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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Motivation and Affect

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Products can satisfy a range of consumer needs.
Marketers try to satisfy consumers’ needs, but the reason any product is purchased can vary widely. The identification of consumer motives is an important step to ensure that a product will meet the appropriate need(s). Traditional approaches to consumer behavior have focused on the abilities of products to satisfy rational needs (utilitarian motives), but hedonic motives (such as the need for exploration or fun) also guide many purchase decisions. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs demonstrates that the same product can satisfy different needs.
Consumers experience different kinds of motivational conflicts that can impact their purchase decisions.
Motivation refers to the processes that lead people to behave as they do. It occurs when a need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy. A goal has valence, which means that it can be positive or negative. We direct our behavior toward goals we value positively; we are motivated to approach the goal and to seek out products that will help us to reach it. However, we may also be motivated to avoid a negative outcome rather than achieve a positive outcome.
Consumers experience a range of affective responses to products and marketing messages.
Affective responses can be mild (evaluations), moderate (moods), or strong (emotions). Marketers often try to elicit a positive emotional response via advertising or other communication channels so that consumers form a bond (or lovemark) with their offering. A lot of the content on social media reflects affective responses that people post, so these platforms are a rich source of information for marketers to gauge how consumers feel about their brands.
The way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our degree of involvement with the product, the marketing message, or the purchase situation.
Product involvement can range from low where consumers make purchase decisions based on inertia, to high where they form strong bonds with favorite brands (cult products). Marketing strategies also need to consider consumers’ extent of engagement with the messages about their products and the environments in which consumption of these products occur.

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