’Needs’ of consumers are artificially created

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Recommended: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Imagine you are planning on buying a new car. You obviously need enough room for your family so you are planning on buying a medium sized SUV. You get two options: The Porsche Cayenne for $49,000 or the Mitsubischi Outlander for $24,000 . You speak to the salesman who tells you, you need the Porsche, because it will make you more popular and that the price is worth it. You leave the store with the Porsche. Was the salesman correct? Do you really need the Porsche or did he just say that so you would spend more money?

Needs of consumers are not artificially created. Marketing doesn’t create the need for a product, it merely shows the customer that the need is preexisting and that he/she should therefore demand a good that delivers these needs. A good example of this, is the market for luxury goods such as sports cars. The basic need for transportation already exists, even before cars were invented.

Buying the Porsche shows an unstated or rather a secret need of the costumer. A want, to be recognized. However this can also be interpreted as a need for self-esteem or social acceptance. When looking at Maslovs Hierarchy of needs this basic need for transportation is visible.
The first tier describes the basic human needs of survival including food water and shelter. Secondly, The second describes safety needs, the third describes social needs and the fourth esteem needs. The fifth tier is self actualization, which according to Maslow only 2% of the world reaches (Kremer and Hammond, 2013). Maslows pyramid shows that besides the basic physiological needs, there exist further human needs. This can explain the reasoning behind spending extra money on a car. Not only is there the need for scoial acceptance, but also the need for est...

... middle of paper ...

...tificially created, however the demand for goods can be artificially created through marketing, especially when it comes to luxury products.

Bibliography:

Insights & Publications. (n.d.). Tapping China's luxury-goods market. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/tapping_chinas_luxury-goods_market

Swinson, J. (2011, August 10). False beauty in advertising and the pressure to look 'good'. CNN. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/opinion/08/08/swinson.airbrushing.ads/

How--And How Not--To Sell Luxury. (n.d.). Forbes. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/16/luxury-strategy-marketing-opinions-book-review-vuitton-hermes-fendi.html

Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business. (n.d.). BBC News. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23902918

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