In 1943, Abraham Maslow compiled a paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation”. In it, Maslow spoke of not only physiological needs, those that humans require for survival, but also of how once those needs are met, a second set of needs or strong desires come into play that causes us to want to better ourselves.
When it comes to motivating your customers to purchase your services or products, taking a good look at Maslow’s five primary human needs can help you find ways to accomplish this. Once our basic needs are met, we look toward our safety and security needs which include financial and personal security, health and well-being and providing a safety net against illness and accidents.
For those of us with our own businesses, how can what we provide, help our customers satisfy these needs? If they are motivated to buy based on the hierarchy and you are able to prove to your customers that your product will increase their safety or help them to become healthier, this is exactly what Maslow meant when he stated that humans are focusing on these needs. The most successful business owners know that if their customers are need driven by safety, security and to some extent, social connections with others, and they are able to provide a great product or service to satisfy these needs, their sales will increase.
Maslow realized that when we satisfy one need, we move on to others. While the basic needs have to be satisfied after a certain period of time, our other needs or desires are always within our grasp depending on our life circumstances, e.g. job loss, our location, etc. He called this self-actualization and noted that only one in a hundred people reach this state because of the way our society rewards certain people for things such as love, recognition, fame and other social needs.
Seventy years later, the original principles of Maslow’s paper can still be applied to marketing. Figure out where your products fit the need of your customers and update them so they are still relevant to the present market. Remember, your customers want to fit in and belong, this is a natural human desire. They have a need for stability and respect and this includes self-respect. You, as a business owner can provide this as well as the tools needed for anything they feel is missing from their lives.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015
