Chapter 2: Needs and Motivation
Why are consumers unwilling to pay for “a swift kick in the butt”?
Because they don’t need it.
When do they need it?
When they experience a need from an internal state of tension caused by a disequilibrium between actual and desired states.
How do we get consumers to notice the disequilibrium/discrepancy?
Marketers could adopt 2 ways:
1.Elevate the desired state
2.Diminish the actual state.
In general, it is easier to ‘diminish the actual state’ when the consumers cannot easily determine what their actual state is.(e.g. body odor, how they are perceived by others, how boring their lives are, etc.)
We already know the definition of NEED, how to identify a NEED. Now let’s move to “What Do We Need?”
Four kinds of NEEDs:
1.Biogenic Needs: water/food/shelter
2.Psychogenic Needs: status/power/affiliation, more details discussed later.
3.Utilitarian Needs: emphasize the objective and tangible attributes of products, such as miles per gallon in a car; durability of a pair of blue jeans.
4.Hedonic Needs:Subjective and experimental, we might look to a product to meet our needs for excitement, self-confidence or fantasy.
Psychogenic Needs and Buying Behavior (AAPU)：
1.Need for Achievement which values personal accomplishment: place a premium on products that signify success (luxury products, technology products)
2.Need for Affiliation which emphasizes the Want to be with others: focus on products that are used in groups (alcoholic beverages, sports bar)
3.Need for Power which means the control one’s environment: focus on products that allow them to have mastery over surroundings (weapons, muscle cars)
4.Need for Uniqueness which asserts one’s individual identity: enjoy products that focus on their unique character (tattoos, perfume, hairstyles)
Consumers buy these types of products, but they do not necessarily have these needs, they simply want to meet their psychogenic needs towards Achievement, Affiliation,Power and Uniqueness.
Beside the above-mentioned types of needs, we are more familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. (Physiological/Safety/Belongingness/Ego Needs and Self-actualization)
Alert, it is important for marketers to recognize that products can satisfy a range of consumer needs, like a sport car could satisfy the need of safety and belongingness, ego etc.
Main Takeaways of Needs:
1.Needs arise when there is a discrepancy between one’s actual and desired states.
2.Marketers can highlight or create needs by changing consumers’ perceptions of either or both their actual and desired states (elevate the desired state and diminish the actual state)
3.Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a helpful, but not perfect way to categorize needs.
4.Needs shape and create MOTIVATION which I will write next.