Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Affects Consumerism

Recently, I’ve been learning a lot about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in several of my classes!  This theory is all about how there are certain needs that humans must satisfy before moving on to other needs.  Not only have I learned the basic concepts of this theory, but I have noticed and observed the relation between this theory and consumer behavior.  Because people have basic needs that they strongly desire to fulfill, they will pretty much do anything for this fulfillment!  You can take advantage of this theory, and relate basic needs to products and services that you want to sell to consumers.  When you determine the basic needs of your customers, you can provide the answer to these needs within your service or products which draws in customers and satisfies them.

One of my professors told the class of a story from his past when he used the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to increase the number of customers that used his bank. This bank that was financially struggling and was not well known in town.  He went on to describe how they hooked loyal customers by baking fresh cookies everyday and offering them to customers.  The fresh smell, delicious taste, and fulfillment of the basic need for food had the customers hooked, and the bank improved by 50% that year!  Something as simple as this can improve a business.  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs may seem like a simple concept, but it can make a huge difference when it comes to customer relations.