Exploring psychological drivers of professional help-seeking in vulnerable consumers: McGuire Psychological Motives Framework perspective in the compulsive consumption context.

Purpose With limited research on help-seeking in the social marketing domain, this research takes a unique perspective through the lens of McGuire’s psychological framework examining the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (or perceived help-seeking benefits) influencing help-seeking attitudes and behaviour in at-risk gamblers. This paper aims to examine the role that response efficacy has on the relationship between perceived help-seeking benefits and help-seeking behavioural intentions. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 used focus groups to explore the positive influence of help-seeking in at-risk gamblers. Studies 2 and 3 used online surveys to further test the direct and indirect impacts of perceived help-seeking benefits on attitudes and behavioural intentions. Structural equation modelling with multi-group analysis (low/high response efficacy) tested the hypotheses. Findings Both cognitive and affective psychological motives manifest as distinct intrinsic (well-being, self-esteem and self-control) and extrinsic motivators (social influence) that influence at-risk gamblers’ help-seeking attitudes and intentions to seek professional services. These perceived benefits influence help-seeking intentions directly (for those high in response efficacy) and indirectly via serial attitudinal mediators. Practical implications The results provide a guide for practitioners to enhance the promotion of professional help. Practitioners should develop marketing communication messages centred on the specific psychological needs of at-risk gamblers to encourage help-seeking behaviour including an emphasis on assertion, affiliation, independence, utilitarian, tension reduction, ego defence and consistency. Originality/value This research is the first, to the knowledge, to examine the psychological motivations that encourage help-seeking in at-risk gamblers, demonstrating that both preservation and growth motives influence help-seeking attitudes and the decision to act.

This research applies McGuire’s Psychological Motives Framework to unlock various cognitive and affective psychological motives (i.e., preservation and growth) that influence health-seeking in at-risk gamblers. Qualitative data was collected via focus groups and analysed in stages using a theme-building approach. Results of qualitative analysis reveal several salient psychological motivators that may have the capacity to encourage help-seeking intentions in at-risk gamblers. Specifically, findings show that affective growth motives, such as the need to adopt new roles (i.e., identification motive), including an affiliation motive (i.e., the need to develop mutually satisfying relationships with others) and assertion motive (i.e., the need to increase self-esteem), are regarded as important to facilitate help-seeking, and also to maintain prolonged engagement with the service. Likewise, cognitive growth motives, such as stimulation motive (i.e., the need for variety and difference), including an autonomy/independence motive (i.e., the need for a feeling of self-governance or self-control) and utilitarian motive (i.e., the need to learn new information to solve problems), emerge as frequently expressed psychological help-seeking motivators. Cognitive and affective preservation motives also manifest as important themes, however, are expressed less frequently. In particular, an affective preservation motive, such as need for ego-defence and need for tension reduction, and cognitive preservation motive, such as need for consistency, are considered meaningful by at-risk gamblers to prompt their help-seeking intentions. Overall, both, cognitive and affective preservation motives appear to be especially salient for respondents at the early stages of their help-seeking decision making process. Track: Reducing the impact of addiction including substance, misuse alcohol, tobacco and gambling