MARKETING

Marketing

Marketing

PART 1: General Research

Maslow's theory of needs and how it is applied to marketing

When Abraham Maslow conceived his Hierarchy of Needs in 1943? he couldn't possibly have known that it would be one of the most influential advances in the fields of marketing and human behavioral study - remaining so well into the subsequent century. (Abraham? 1936? 261-277)

Maslow Marketing Hierarchy

The theory developed by Maslow put forth that the motivation for any action made by any human being is an unfulfilled need. When we have unmet needs? we are motivated to meet them in a specific order. Once the needs on the first level are met? we move on to the needs of the next level? and so on until we reach the top tier. (Abraham? 1936? 261-277)

The first level that we are concerned with is our physiological needs: the basic things that keep us alive. Safety needs are met next? followed by social needs. We then move into the less tangible needs of esteem and? finally? self-actualization. Any student of the Maslow theory will understand how it can easily fit into a marketing context. When we attempt to make a sale? we are not only selling the product: we are selling the idea of the product? the image of the product? and the result of the product. (Abraham? 1936? 261-277) We are essentially promising to fulfill one or more of the needs in the hierarchy.

Obviously? a marketing campaign will be more successful the more it appeals to the lower levels of unfulfilled need in a person's life. What this means for you? the marketer? is that knowing your audience's needs is key. A product that promises to fulfill an esteem need will be virtually useless to a customer whose safety needs are not yet met. (Abraham? 1936? 261-277)

In order to be successful ...