Human needs (Maslow’s hierarchy)

Don’t write If you were selling a sweater to a customer, what might you say to motivate them to buy it? Would any body object to the statement that a good way to motivate someone to buy something is to show them why they need it, or make them think they need it?

Don’t write Think of the last product or service you paid for. What motivated you to buy it? -now we’ve started to think about what motivates people and we’ve put a focus on “needs” as motivators we can introduce Maslow who was really the pioneer of this idea

ABRAHAM MASLOW Psychologist “A Theory of Human Motivation” (1943) Developed a hierarchy of needs Once lower needs are met, people move onto the next needs These needs motivate our purchasing decisions -American Psychologist who attended university in the 30’s -He published a paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in 1943, where he theorized a hierarchy of needs with basic physical requirements at the bottom, and more social and complex needs as you move up. -He suggested that people are motivated to fulfill the most basic needs first, before moving on to more advanced needs -He believed that these needs acted like instincts, and motivated our behaviour What do you think motivates us? What are some different things you can think of that might motivate who we are as people, what we want in our lives, etc. Get into pairs and consider this.

MASLOW AND MARKETING? So how does this relate to marketing? Consider water. What kind of need according to Maslows theory would water be satisfying? Now consider: if every company that sells water sold it by trying to convince people they need it purely for physiological needs, how would these companies differentiate themselves? Let’s look at a couple of ads that show the different ways we can market to different types of needs, where a company is trying to convince the consumer that they need to the water for a different reason. MASLOW AND MARKETING?

Why Do Marketers Care About Maslow? Maslow’s theory of motivation helps us understand consumer buying behaviour. It helps in understanding the psychological factors that determine human behaviour, and thus consumers buying behaviour ($$$). Companies might market a similar product towards different needs in order to differentiate themselves to the consumer (ie. Find a niche and gain market share)

Why Do Marketers Care About Maslow? Companies develop products to help satisfy particular needs, then market the product to show its consumers WHY they need it. They can focus on one need, or multiple needs at a time.

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Think-pair-share: What do you think of this pyramid? Do you agree? Disagree? Go through the pyramid In think-pair-share, I want you to think through this pyramid. Do you agree with it? Disagree with it? Do you think every person in the world, regardless of background or culture, follows this pyramid? Why or why not?

Why Do Marketers Care About Maslow? Example: A clothing company can focus on physiological needs (need to be protected from the environment and to be warm). They can also focus on esteem and self-actualization needs (clothes improve a person’s self-esteem or self-perception and give them the confidence to pursue their self-actualization needs).

Ad 1 – what need do you think this is catering to Ad 1 – what need do you think this is catering to? This is probably more on the physiological side

Ad 2 – which need is this one marketing to? Belonging

Ad3 - feel like a big fish, achieve status on the corporate ladder - esteem So not only do we see a different need here, but we see also a twist on it just being water, because now it’s including something within it, namely electrolytes. Why do you think the company might have done that?

Ad4 - we see Ellen flexing her muscles, and doing a yoga pose Somewhat similar to the previous ad, but this time catering to the healthy crowd, which could potentially be physiological but could also perhaps belong to belonging

Activity: Name that need! Decide what level of Maslow’s hierarchy the advertisement appeals to Does it appeal to multiple needs? How successful do you think this advertisement would be/is? Why? (ie. Consider the target market) In groups of 4, I’m going to hand out an advertisement to each group and I want you to answer the questions on the slide. I’ll ask each group to present their answers to the class in about 5-10 minutes and we’ll discuss. Consider target markets.

Maslow-Based Marketing How do you know what ‘need’ the advertisement is marketing to? What is it you look for? Which of Maslow’s ‘needs’ do you think are most often marketed to and why? Examples? Is there a link between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’? What’s the difference? Example: Purchasing a BMW; do we want this or do we need this? In your same groups, consider the questions on the board. Talk together and I’ll come back to you and we’ll have a group discussion. Need and want: Often what we want, we want it because it’s going to help us fit a need we are trying to meet Example: purchasing a BMW. Do we want this, or do we need this? Can you think of other examples? Any examples that might not fit into this?

Slogan Competition On your own or with a partner, choose an advertisement and create a slogan that you think best represents the “need(s)” being marketed to The class will vote and the winner will win a treat! Getting into groups of 3, with people DIFFERENT from who you worked with for the group discussions. Come grab some ads or magazines and choose one of the ads that you think would be interesting to work with to develop a slogan. You’ll have the rest of today and some of tomorrow to figure out your slogan and think it through. I’d like you to be prepared to present your slogan and the reason why you chose it, how it relates to the MHN, and why you think it fits your target market.