Purchase of Something Is Determine by Needs of a Person

The purchase of a product or service by the consumer is usually determined by the needs of a person. Discuss.

1. Needs and Wants

The purchase of a product or service by the consumer is usually determined by the needs of a person. However, not only needs are applied, but also wants. Needs can be defined as a term when referring to any human requirements, although there is loads of meaning to needs that may be used. For example, a woman who heads to a departmental store to buy clothes so that she can protect herself from the heat of the sun or the rain. Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. The key to a company’s survival, profitability, and growth in a highly bloodthirsty marketing environment is its ability to identify and satisfy unfulfilled consumer needs sooner and better than the competitor.

However, every individual has needs. There are two types of needs, one is known as innate needs and the other is acquired needs. Innate needs are physiological, it include needs such as food, water, clothing, shelter and air. In other words, innate needs are your primary needs as they are needed to sustain biological life. On the other hand, acquired needs are your secondary needs. It is the needs that we learn in response to our culture or environment and it include the needs of self-esteem, affection, power, and learning. They result from the individual’s subjective psychological position and from relationship with others. At most of the time, these needs will not be strong enough to motivate a person to perform. A need only becomes a motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of intensity.

Needs reflect a gap between what individuals’ desire and what they have. They might be unaware of their needs underlying their actions, but are usually quite clear on what they want. Hence wants can be seen as the expression of needs in actual situations. Wants is defined as the desire of an individual to possess a product or service in terms of making one’s life feel comfortable and enjoyable. For instance, a small kid who bliss on a particular toy in Hamley’s Mall, without having any clue on why he needs it that generated his desire to that toy.

2. Motivation/Motives

However, all these do not just come by. It is due to one’s motivation and personality. Motivation can be defined as the stimulating force that activates behaviour and provides purpose and direction to that behaviour. This force is produced by a state of tension, which exists as the results of an unfulfilled need. Individuals strive, of course; both consciously and subconsciously to reduce this tension through behaviour which they foresee will fulfill their needs and thus ease them of the stress one feels. A motive is the reason why an individual does something. For example, a woman who consider on purchasing a particular item of clothing. To her, it’s not just purchasing in terms of for shelter need or safety needs. In addition, she may be motivated to purchase the clothing that expresses or symbolizes her status as she has a strong need to express that aspect of her identity. Then again, there are many factors that can trigger motivation, and motivational researchers try to identify and understand these factors.

2.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1940 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” where he subsequently extended to include his observation on humans’ innate curiousity. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a macro theory designed to accunt for most human behaviour in general terms. However, Maslow put forward that needs are organized in such a way as to establish priorities and hierarchies of importance. His theories are based on four premises which state that all humans obtain a similar set of motives through genetic endowment and social interaction; some motives are more basic than others; the more basic motives ought to be satisfied to a minimum level before other motives are activated; and as the basic motives become satisfied, more advanced motives will come into play. For instance, a homeless man will take no interest in the latest gadget as long as he remained unhoused. But as each need is satisfied, the next most important need will increase in its importance. Therefore, Maslow concluded, if people are able to create a positive environment for themselves, they should be able to move up the need hierarchy towards the higher level of personal growth.

The first level in the hierarchy of needs is the physiological needs, basic needs for short. These needs are basically needed to sustain biological life which includes