The Law of Effect

People tend to repeat behavior which seems to bring them rewards, and avoid behavior which seems to bring punishments.

Learned behavior.  It is a pretty safe bet that no matter what situation a person finds himself in today, he will behave about the same way tomorrow in a similar situation.  As small children, we learn that certain behavior gained rewards from our parents, and other behavior brought punishment.  When we went to school, we learned to avoid making mistakes because of either teacher disapproval or class mate ridicule.  So many people avoid making mistakes by not volunteering, by not exposing themselves to the possibility of being wrong. 

Every day early in our lives we had many learning experiences, forming our personality.  Then as we grew, our needs were very much affected by rewards and punishments.  Before long, we learned that much of what seemed normal was actually taboo.  And we discovered anxiety and frustration when needs came into conflict.

We all have the same needs and they are all expressed in pretty much the same feelings.  But we behave differently because what needs are the most important at the time are different for different people. Also, because behavior is learned, we have learned to react differently to stimuli and show our feelings differently.  One person may have learned that to do something in a certain way will bring rewards, while another may believe it will bring punishment.  The differences reflect how we have learned, each through our own experiences, to gain or maintain the satisfaction of our needs.

Gainers and Maintainers. Some people are motivated primarily by the "gain" side of each of the levels of the pyramid.  Personal gain is the most important thing to them.  They tend to try harder, take risks, to look at the possibilities for gaining rewards, pleasures, approvals, and satisfactions.  They want new experiences and they respond to the opportunity to meet a challenge and come out on top.

Others are more concerned with the "maintain"  side of each level.  It seems that they can never get enough of their needs met.  Some are in constant need of attention, reassurance and flattery.

In sales, it helps to identify which basic type of customer you are dealing with, and and accordingly give either the gain or maintain side of the benefits more weight as is appropriate for that person. On the internet, we don't have the opportunity to know which type you have, so you need to give attention to both kinds of benefits.