Today, marketing is becoming total; it is an element of managing any field of activity. Since it is aimed at meeting needs through exchange, marketing is a key concept. It fits into the basic triad: need - demand - product. We answer the question: in marketing, the need is what: an object, idea or function?
Marketing concept
The term "marketing" does not have a single and generally accepted interpretation. There are several approaches to the definition of this phenomenon. Most often it is considered that marketing is the process of promoting a product from a producer to a consumer. In this case, it is often equated with the concepts of "advertising", "public relations", "promotion".
However, this is a broader phenomenon. In another approach, marketing is understood as a kind of human activity to meet the needs and requirements of people through the exchange between them. This approach was given the concept of classic marketing F. Kotler. And in this case, the key concept is the process of studying and satisfying needs. Marketing in this case becomes not a tool of pressure on the consumer, but a means of helping the buyer.
Within the framework of this understanding, any consumer needs goods that fully satisfy his needs. From this perspective, this concept includes consumer research, designing the best products, and promotion tools. In this understanding of marketing, the need is the initial, key concept.
Need and need
Each time when it comes to marketing, the question arises about its basic categories. These include the concepts of "product", "market", "consumer", "need" and "need". In marketing, as in psychology, the main categories should be clearly distinguished. Each of these concepts is actively interpreted by researchers and practitioners and has several interpretations. Need and need are often confused. What is the main difference between them?
They differ in the degree of certainty and the sequence of occurrence. Need is a deficient state felt by a person. He feels discomfort from the fact that he is missing something. Need has an indefinite and heterogeneous form; it pushes a person to search for a way to get rid of it. In the next step, need turns into need.
That is, according to the version of F. Kotler, it takes on a certain form due to the cultural and personal characteristics of the consumer and his environment. One can imagine that a hungry person is uncomfortable, this is a need. And in the process of deciding how to get rid of this need, what to eat and how to cook it, the consumer chooses the ways that culture, traditions, and the environment dictate to him.
Essence of needs
Impact on the consumer involves the study of each stage of his behavior: from the appearance of motives and incentives to the performance of certain actions. Therefore, marketing need is the starting point for studying consumer behavior. The essence of this phenomenon can be described as follows:
- The need is historically and socially determined, that is, they change with the development of society, production relations. So, for example, the need for protection from the cold over time has turned into a social need for clothing that meets the trends of fashion and time. Changing and ways to meet needs. Today, a person does not agree to satisfy hunger with simple food, we get used to deliciously prepared dishes. With the advent of new production capabilities, a person begins to consume convenience foods, prepared food, etc.
- Need, in contrast to need, is subjective in nature, it can be formed and created by society and people.
- Needs are volatile, they are affected.
- Needs are satisfied in stages: from early to new, from lower to higher.
- Needs depend on what sphere of activity the consumer is involved in.
The essence of needs, therefore, is that they are a source of human activity. Only when experiencing a need, the consumer is ready to perform any action. A specific characteristic of needs is that they are unlimited and there is no possibility of their full satisfaction due to the finiteness and limited economic resources.
Types of needs
There are several classifications of human needs. In the concept of psychologist E. Fromm, varieties are distinguished based on the interaction of man and nature. In this case, the needs are highlighted:
- in interpersonal relationships, such as love or friendship, in communication;
- in creativity, it does not depend on the sphere of activity and is aimed at creation;
- in safety, based on a feeling of deep roots with family, group, society;
- in identification with someone or something, in assimilation, in the presence of an ideal;
- in the knowledge of the world.
D. McClelland develops a theory of acquired needs and identifies such varieties:
- the need to achieve something;
- need for connections with other people;
- the need for power.
There are other ways to highlight the types of needs. Marketing traditionally relies on the pyramidal model of Abraham Maslow.
Pyramid of needs
In the concept of A. Maslow, needs are arranged in a hierarchical sequence, in the form of a pyramid. This form is due to the fact that a person satisfies needs in stages, from bottom to top, and some people stop at different steps of the pyramid. In accordance with this approach, the needs of consumers in marketing are characterized. Maslow identified the following steps of the pyramid:
- lower - physiological needs (thirst, need for sleep, hunger);
- self-preservation (need for security, protection);
- social needs (love, friendship, a sense of ownership, spiritual intimacy);
- respect, needs for respect by reference groups and self-esteem;
- the highest is the need for self-realization and self-affirmation.
The man, according to Maslow, first satisfies the most significant needs for him. The higher a person rises along the steps of the pyramid, the more he is ready for action. Maslow believed that the higher the needs of a person, the more healthy he is mentally and spiritually developed.
He also believed that the needs of the higher levels develop later than the lowest, the beginning of this process falls on the teenage period. The higher the need, the easier it is to postpone its satisfaction. Higher needs are perceived by people as less urgent.
Thus, a consumer will more easily refuse to buy a ticket to the theater than from buying delicious food. Moreover, the satisfaction of higher needs brings a person more happiness and joy, enriches his life with meaning, and contributes to the development of personality.
Needs building process
Social dynamics and human development lead to a change in the needs for phylogenesis. This process can also be observed in the framework of ontogenesis. In both cases, material incentives are the initial stimuli to human activity. And already on their platform, social and spiritual needs are developing and forming. Several processes and factors influence the awareness of needs and the process of their formation - this is upbringing, communication, cognition, social environment, culture, traditions.
Ways to Meet Needs
Human life depends on the completeness and timeliness of meeting needs. If biological needs are not satisfied, then a threat to human life appears. And if you ignore spiritual, social needs, then there is a risk of losing your identity. In the process of life, people learn different ways of satisfying needs.
Including consumers will learn from advertising different ways to get what they want for a comfortable existence. Thus, the basic needs for marketing are an object of study and influence, as well as a way of teaching consumers how to meet their needs.
Psychologists say that the formation of needs occurs during education, training, socialization, activity. In the process of life, a person is aware of the content of needs, learns about relevant and economical ways of satisfying them, and fixes the most acceptable methods.
Significance of Marketing Needs
The process of moving goods from producer to consumer should take into account the characteristics of the psychology of customers. Therefore, the concept of needs marketing puts in first place among its basic categories. Knowing the needs of the consumer, the ability to manage them helps marketers to offer people new products and services that make the life of customers as comfortable and happy as possible, increase its quality.
Needs and demand
Marketing aims to increase sales. For this, marketers study the needs of consumers, form and stimulate demand for goods and services. The concepts of "demand" and "need" are very closely related to each other, the former cannot exist without the latter. Needs drive consumer demand, but demand is not consumption. Experts understand by demand the purchasing intention to purchase a product.
It must coincide with the capabilities of the buyer, so that demand is in balance with supply. Thus, demand is the sum of need and purchasing power. The consumer should not only want something, but also be able to buy a certain product in a certain place and in a certain quantity to satisfy this need.
Needs Study Methods
Influence on consumer behavior requires a study of the characteristics of its behavior. Therefore, the study of marketing needs is the most important and urgent task. Since needs are often unconscious, their research methods should take this into account.
For the study of perceived needs, various survey methods, questionnaires, and interviews are used. And for the study of unconscious needs apply projective methods, experiments, methods of scaling and semantic differential.
Impact on marketing needs
Despite the fact that the basic principles of marketing recognize the freedom and independence of the consumer, there is also the principle of legitimacy and the possibility of influencing consumer behavior. Since one of the goals of marketing activity is to generate demand and increase sales, marketers must know the mechanisms for generating human needs and be able to manage them.
Marketing needs considers human needs as an object of its impact. To do this, primarily tools such as advertising and public relations are used. You can also influence the needs of the consumer with the help of price, sales promotion tools.