The nature and influence of motivation within the MOA framework: implications for social marketing

Abstract

Abstract Social marketers acknowledge that to achieve optimum programme outcomes, identification and targeting of the non‐conforming cohort is paramount. This article discusses the application of the social marketing framework, motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) with a particular focus on the motivation aspect of the model. Motivation is considered from the perspectives of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Previously, the degree or level of motivation has been used in the operationalisation of the motivation construct, while in this paper the type of motivation is used as the basis for the construct. The construct is then applied to an environmental land management study, namely a rabbit control programme. Specifically, the aims of this paper were to further develop the MOA constructs, with a particular focus on motivation, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, to develop an understanding of the factors that are associated with ineffective behaviour and to develop a model to predict effective/ineffective control behaviour. Scales were developed to enable a study of the relationship between the MOA constructs, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the respondents control behaviour. Data were collected from a random sample of 566 respondents who were involved in the control programme. Using ANOVA and MANOVA techniques, significant differences were found between those landholders that exhibited effective control and ineffective control with regard to all MOA constructs. A multinomial logit (MNL) regression model was then developed to predict behaviour. This model showed that ability and intrinsic motivation were significant predictors of behaviour. The estimated model was able to predict recalcitrant landholders with 98% accuracy. The results of this study therefore provide a significant contribution to social marketing as it is the recalcitrant cohort that social marketers wish to understand and whose behaviour they frequently attempt to rectify in order to achieve stated social and/or environmental objectives. The implications for related social market theory, policy development and environmental management programmes are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.