A model based on McClelland's theory of human motivation was proposed in which motive incentives mediated the relationship between motive level (n Power, n Affiliation and n Achievement) and product involvement. This hypothesis was tested with 142 college students. Results indicate that power motive incentives successfully mediated the relationship between power motive level and product involvement for the expensive car and interview clothing conditions. Affiliation motive incentives mediated the relationship between affiliation motive level and involvement for greeting cards but not gifts. The two achievement products (scientific calculator and computer manual) failed to meet most of the criteria for mediation.
Laura Schmidt is a psychology doctoral student and Irene Frieze is a professor of psychology and business administration at the University of Pittsburgh. This paper was based on the Master's thesis of the first author.We would like to thank S. Golin and Audrey Murrell for their helpful suggestions on this project.