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The Usefulness of Maslow's Hierarchy

In: Business and Management

Submitted By mawuyram
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BLANTYRE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING (BBA 122) INDEX NO. DATE: 17/03/14 ASSIGNMENT ONE. A. Usefulness of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Marketing In the most basic sense, Maslow's hierarchy identifies five primary areas of needs experienced by most humans. Beginning with physiological, or basic life survival, needs, the model progresses in subsequent steps through safety and security, love and belongingness, self-esteem and finally selfactualization. Maslow postulated that as man meets the needs at the first level, he moves toward the next, then the next and so on. More recent studies have added levels to the needs hierarchy and refined the categories, but marketing classes throughout the country continue to use Maslow's needs hierarchy as a reasonable focus for modern marketing efforts. Maslow posited that human behaviour and decision-making are motivated by one of the five need levels in his hierarchy. Applied to marketing theory, your ability to effectively appeal to one of these motivational drivers is a key determinant of your potential success. Non-essential services massage treatments or custom tailoring, for example - may be marketed successfully to those in the fourth or fifth level of Maslow's hierarchy because those people are driven by the needs for increased self-esteem and realizing their full potential. The same marketing campaign is unlikely to appeal to those on the first level, as they are driven by the most basic of human needs: food, water and other elements of survival. A prospective customer driven by Maslow's second needs level, safety and security, might be enticed to buy a new car if you convince him that it is safe for his family, reliable and well-rated in consumer studies. Someone driven by the need for self-esteem, in needs level four, is looking for recognition and validation, so you might tailor your

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