A human need is a state of felt deprivation of some basic satisfaction. (food, clothing, shelter, safety, belonging, esteem etc.)
Abraham Maslow noticed that some needs take precedence over others. For example, if you are hungry and thirsty, you will tend to try to take care of the thirst first. After all, you can do without food for weeks, but you can only do without water for a couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than hunger. Likewise, if you are very thirsty, but someone has put a choke hold on you and you can’t breathe, which is more important? The need to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is less powerful than any of these. Let’s face it, you won’t die if you don’t get it!
Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers:
1) Physiological needs. These include the needs we have for oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins. They also include the need to maintain a pH balance (getting too acidic or base will kill you) and temperature. Also, there’s the needs to be active, to rest, to sleep, to get rid of wastes (CO2, sweat, urine, and feces), to avoid pain, and to have sex.
2) Safety and security needs. When the physiological needs are largely taken care of, this second layer of needs comes into play. You will become increasingly interested in finding safe circumstances, stability, and protection. You might develop a need for structure, for order, some limits. Looking at it negatively, you become concerned, not with needs like hunger and thirst, but with your fears and anxieties. In the ordinary adult, this set of needs manifest themselves in the form of our urges to have a home in a safe neighborhood, a little job security and a good retirement plan and a bit of insurance, and so on.
3) Love and belonging needs. When physiological needs and safety needs are, by and large, taken care of, a third layer starts to show up. You begin to feel the need for friends, a sweetheart, children; affectionate relationships in general, even a sense of community. Looked at negatively, you become increasing susceptible to loneliness and social anxieties.
In our day-to-day life, we exhibit these needs in our desires to marry, have a family, be a part of a community, a member of a church, a brother in the fraternity, a part of a gang or a bowling club. It is also a part of what we look for in a career.
4) Esteem needs. Next, we begin to look for a little self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity, even dominance. The higher form involves the need for self-respect, including such feelings as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and freedom. Note that this is the “higher” form because, unlike the respect of others, once you have self-respect, it’s a lot harder to lose! The negative version of these needs is low self-esteem and inferiority complexes. Maslow felt that these were at the roots of many, if not most, of psychological problems. In many countries, most people have what they need in regard to their physiological and safety needs. Almost everyone, more often than not, has quite a bit of love and belonging, too. It’s a little respect that often seems so very hard to get!
All of the preceding four levels he calls deficit needs, or D-needs. If you don’t have enough of something -- i.e. you have a deficit -- you feel the need. But if you get all you need, you feel nothing at all! In other words, they cease to be motivating. As the old blues song goes, “you don’t miss your water till your well runs dry!”
Maslow also talks about these levels in terms of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the principle by which a furnace thermostat operates: When it gets too cold, it switches the heat on; when it gets too hot, it switches the heat off. In the same way, our body, when it lacks a certain substance, develops a hunger for it; when it gets enough of it, then the hunger stops. Maslow simply extends the homeostatic principle to needs, such as safety, belonging, and esteem that we don’t ordinarily think of in these terms. Under stressful conditions, or when survival is threatened, we can “regress” to a lower need level.
These things can occur on a society-wide basis as well: When society suddenly flounders, people start clamoring for a strong leader to take over and make things right. When the bombs start falling, they look for safety. When the food stops coming into the stores, their needs become even more basic. If one has significant problems along one’s development -- a period of extreme
insecurity or hunger as a child, or the loss of a family member through death or divorce, or significant neglect or abuse -- one may “fixate” on that set of needs for the rest of one’s life.
Showing posts with label Need. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Need. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
CORE CONCEPTS OF MARKETING
STP ANALYSIS
A marketer can rarely satisfy everyone in a market. Not everyone likes the same soft drink, automobile, college, and movie. Therefore, marketers start with market segmentation.
Segmentation
A market consists of large number of individual customers who differ in terms of their
needs, preferences and buying capacity. Therefore, it becomes necessary to divide the
total market into different segments or homogeneous customer groups. Such division is
called market segmentation. They may have uniformity in employment patterns,
educational qualifications, economic status, preferences, etc.
Base for the segmentation
1. Geographic Segmentation:
2. Demographic Segmentation:
3. Psychological variables:
4. Behavioural Segmentation:
They identify and profile distinct groups of buyers who might prefer or require varying products and marketing mixes. Market segments can be identified by examining demographic, psychographic, and behavioral differences among buyers. The firm then decides which segments present the greatest opportunity—those whose needs the firm can meet in a superior fashion.
For each chosen target market, the firm develops a market offering. The offering is positioned in the minds of the target buyers as delivering some central benefit(s). For example, Volvo develops its cars for the target market of buyers for whom automobile safety is a major concern. Volvo, therefore, positions its car as the safest a customer can buy.
Needs, Wants, and Demands
Needs
Describe basic human requirements such as food, air, water, clothing, and shelter. People also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. An American needs food but wants a hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. A person in Mauritius needs food but wants a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Clearly, wants are shaped by one’s society.
Abraham Maslow noticed that some needs take precedence over others. For example, if you are hungry and thirsty, you will tend to try to take care of the thirst first. After all,you can do without food for weeks, but you can only do without water for a couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than hunger. Likewise, if you are very thirsty, but someone has put a choke hold on you and you can’t breathe, which is more important? The need to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is less powerful than any of these. Let’s face it, you won’t die if you don’t get it!
Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers:
Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Mercedes; only a few are able and willing to buy one. Companies must measure not only how many people want their product, but also how many would actually be willing and able to buy it.
However, marketers do not create needs: Needs preexist marketers. Marketers, along with other societal influences, influence wants. Marketers might promote the idea that a Mercedes would satisfy a person’s need for social status. They do not, however, create the need for social status.
Product or Offering
People satisfy their needs and wants with products. A product is any offering that can satisfy a need or want, such as one of the 10 basic offerings of goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas.
A brand is an offering from a known source. A brand name such as McDonald’s carries many associations in the minds of people: hamburgers, fun, children, fast food, golden arches. These associations make up the brand image. All companies strive to build a strong, favorable brand image.
Value and Satisfaction
In terms of marketing, the product or offering will be successful if it delivers value and satisfaction to the target buyer.
We define value as a ratio between what the customer gets and what he gives.
Based on this equation, the marketer can increase the value of the customer offering by
(1) raising benefits,
(2) reducing costs,
(3) raising benefits and reducing costs,
(4) raising benefits by more than the raise in costs, or (
5) lowering benefits by less than the reduction in costs.
Tools for tracking and measuring Customer Satisfaction: Complaint and Suggestion systems, Customer satisfaction surveys, Ghost shopping, Lost customer analysis
Exchange and Transactions
Exchange is a value-creating process because it normally leaves both parties
better off.
Exchange, the core of marketing, involves obtaining a desired product from someone
by offering something in return. For exchange potential to exist, five conditions must be satisfied:
1. There are at least two parties.
2. Each party has something that might be of value to the other party.
3. Each party is capable of communication and delivery.
4. Each party is free to accept or reject the exchange offer.
5. Each party believes it is appropriate or desirable to deal with the other party.
Note that exchange is a process rather than an event.
Two parties are engaged in
exchange if they are negotiating—trying to arrive at mutually agreeable terms. When an
agreement is reached, we say that a transaction takes place.
A transaction involves at least
two things of value, agreed-upon conditions, a time of agreement, and a place of agreement.
Relationships and Networks
Transaction marketing is part of a larger idea called relationship marketing.
Relationship marketing aims to build long-term mutually satisfying relations with key parties— customers, suppliers, distributors—in order to earn and retain their long-term
preference and business.
Relationship marketing builds strong economic, technical, and social ties among the
parties. It cuts down on transaction costs and time. In the most successful cases, transactions
move from being negotiated each time to being a matter of routine.
The ultimate outcome of relationship marketing is the building of a unique company asset called a marketing network.
A marketing network consists of the company and its supporting stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, university scientists, and others) with whom it has built mutually profitable business relationships.
Increasingly, competition is not between companies but rather between marketing networks, with the profits going to the company that has the better network.
A marketer can rarely satisfy everyone in a market. Not everyone likes the same soft drink, automobile, college, and movie. Therefore, marketers start with market segmentation.
Segmentation
A market consists of large number of individual customers who differ in terms of their
needs, preferences and buying capacity. Therefore, it becomes necessary to divide the
total market into different segments or homogeneous customer groups. Such division is
called market segmentation. They may have uniformity in employment patterns,
educational qualifications, economic status, preferences, etc.
Base for the segmentation
1. Geographic Segmentation:
2. Demographic Segmentation:
3. Psychological variables:
4. Behavioural Segmentation:
They identify and profile distinct groups of buyers who might prefer or require varying products and marketing mixes. Market segments can be identified by examining demographic, psychographic, and behavioral differences among buyers. The firm then decides which segments present the greatest opportunity—those whose needs the firm can meet in a superior fashion.
For each chosen target market, the firm develops a market offering. The offering is positioned in the minds of the target buyers as delivering some central benefit(s). For example, Volvo develops its cars for the target market of buyers for whom automobile safety is a major concern. Volvo, therefore, positions its car as the safest a customer can buy.
Needs, Wants, and Demands
Needs
Describe basic human requirements such as food, air, water, clothing, and shelter. People also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. An American needs food but wants a hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. A person in Mauritius needs food but wants a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Clearly, wants are shaped by one’s society.
Abraham Maslow noticed that some needs take precedence over others. For example, if you are hungry and thirsty, you will tend to try to take care of the thirst first. After all,you can do without food for weeks, but you can only do without water for a couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than hunger. Likewise, if you are very thirsty, but someone has put a choke hold on you and you can’t breathe, which is more important? The need to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is less powerful than any of these. Let’s face it, you won’t die if you don’t get it!
Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers:
Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Mercedes; only a few are able and willing to buy one. Companies must measure not only how many people want their product, but also how many would actually be willing and able to buy it.
However, marketers do not create needs: Needs preexist marketers. Marketers, along with other societal influences, influence wants. Marketers might promote the idea that a Mercedes would satisfy a person’s need for social status. They do not, however, create the need for social status.
Product or Offering
People satisfy their needs and wants with products. A product is any offering that can satisfy a need or want, such as one of the 10 basic offerings of goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas.
A brand is an offering from a known source. A brand name such as McDonald’s carries many associations in the minds of people: hamburgers, fun, children, fast food, golden arches. These associations make up the brand image. All companies strive to build a strong, favorable brand image.
Value and Satisfaction
In terms of marketing, the product or offering will be successful if it delivers value and satisfaction to the target buyer.
We define value as a ratio between what the customer gets and what he gives.
Based on this equation, the marketer can increase the value of the customer offering by
(1) raising benefits,
(2) reducing costs,
(3) raising benefits and reducing costs,
(4) raising benefits by more than the raise in costs, or (
5) lowering benefits by less than the reduction in costs.
Tools for tracking and measuring Customer Satisfaction: Complaint and Suggestion systems, Customer satisfaction surveys, Ghost shopping, Lost customer analysis
Exchange and Transactions
Exchange is a value-creating process because it normally leaves both parties
better off.
Exchange, the core of marketing, involves obtaining a desired product from someone
by offering something in return. For exchange potential to exist, five conditions must be satisfied:
1. There are at least two parties.
2. Each party has something that might be of value to the other party.
3. Each party is capable of communication and delivery.
4. Each party is free to accept or reject the exchange offer.
5. Each party believes it is appropriate or desirable to deal with the other party.
Note that exchange is a process rather than an event.
Two parties are engaged in
exchange if they are negotiating—trying to arrive at mutually agreeable terms. When an
agreement is reached, we say that a transaction takes place.
A transaction involves at least
two things of value, agreed-upon conditions, a time of agreement, and a place of agreement.
Relationships and Networks
Transaction marketing is part of a larger idea called relationship marketing.
Relationship marketing aims to build long-term mutually satisfying relations with key parties— customers, suppliers, distributors—in order to earn and retain their long-term
preference and business.
Relationship marketing builds strong economic, technical, and social ties among the
parties. It cuts down on transaction costs and time. In the most successful cases, transactions
move from being negotiated each time to being a matter of routine.
The ultimate outcome of relationship marketing is the building of a unique company asset called a marketing network.
A marketing network consists of the company and its supporting stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, university scientists, and others) with whom it has built mutually profitable business relationships.
Increasingly, competition is not between companies but rather between marketing networks, with the profits going to the company that has the better network.
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