Needs, Wants, and Demands: It Pays to Know the Difference

Businesses struggle with marketing for many reasons. One of those reasons is often linked to the customer’s needs, wants, and demands.

Confusion around these terms can prevent brands from understanding their customers’ buying motivations. As a result, businesses squander money on marketing campaigns that don’t resonate with the target audience.

To be successful, brands must have a solid understanding of customers’ needs, wants, and demands. Knowing the difference can transform your business’s marketing strategy. Table of Contents

The difference between needs, wants, and demands in marketing (with examples)

A significant disconnect between the target audience and brand occurs when the brand presumes customers know what they need. But people don’t always know what they need and often confuse needs and wants. To get clarity, let’s look at the basic difference of each with examples.

NOTE: To keep everything concise, I’ll consistently use the word “product.” However, if you’re a service provider, your service is your product. The concepts of needs, wants, and desires apply to both.

Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a popular motivational theory that outlines basic individual needs. The type of needs are:

• Physiological needs

• Safety needs

• Belonging and acceptance (love)

• Esteem needs

• Self-actualization needs

This psychological framework makes for an interesting exploration of individual personality. But it doesn’t hold up when applying it to the marketing mix.

Here’s why:

Oversimplification: The hierarchy suggests a linear progression through needs, but human needs are often fluid and overlapping. People may prioritize different needs based on individual circumstances and cultural contexts.

Lack of empirical support: Research hasn’t consistently supported the strict order of needs proposed by Maslow. Some studies indicate that people can pursue higher-order needs even when lower-order needs remain unmet.

Individual variations: By assuming a universal order of needs, the hierarchy overlooks individual differences in motivations and priorities. What one person considers a “belongingness” need might be an “esteem” need for another.

Cultural bias rooted in Western individualism: Maslow’s theory may be less applicable in collectivist cultures where social needs might take precedence over self-actualization.

Limited relevance to consumer behavior: While the hierarchy provides a general framework for understanding consumer motivations, it doesn’t offer specific insights into purchasing decisions. Modern marketing requires understanding nuanced customer preferences, brand perceptions, and situational factors that go beyond the scope of Maslow’s theory.

In marketing management, needs refer to the underlying customer desire for a product’s specific benefit. Physical needs, such as comfort, convenience, and health, are examples.

Customer needs in marketing are influenced by various factors, including demographics, psychographics, and situational factors. Needs also evolve with changing trends, technologies, and personal circumstances. Marketers need to stay attuned to these changes to remain relevant. Understanding the customer’s context is crucial for effective marketing.

Demands

A demand isn’t just wanting something-it also hinges on whether someone is willing and able to pay for it.

Demand combines want with purchasing power. For instance, the person above who needs a car for transportation and wants a Tesla must also have the resources to buy it. The customer’s buying power fuels the demand for luxury cars like Tesla.

Understanding these three concepts allows businesses to tailor their marketing and advertising strategies more effectively. This also enables businesses to create products that meet their customers’ desires and ability to pay.

As an example, a company selling smartphones doesn’t just sell a device to make calls (need). They also sell high-tech design, a range of functionalities, and a status symbol (wants). And by offering different models at varying price points, they cater to the demands of different consumer groups.

Demand combines want with purchasing power.

The challenges of “needs marketing”

Meeting customer needs is a fundamental part of business in today’s world, but it’s not as straightforward as you think. It’s difficult to leverage a person’s need in marketing for several reasons:

Identifying the real need: Understanding customers’ actual need can be difficult, especially when customers themselves are not clear about their needs. Sometimes, people perceive a want as a mandatory part of life, even when it isn’t.

Changing needs: As time passes, customer needs change. Keeping up with these changes can be challenging.

Competition: Many businesses might sell the same product that fulfills a particular need. Standing out from the competition and convincing customers your brand is superior can be tough.

Price sensitivity: If the need isn’t urgent, customers may be more price sensitive. They may choose a cheaper option or delay the purchase until they find a better deal.

Communication: Effectively communicating how your product meets the customer’s need is crucial. However, crafting a unique selling proposition and compelling message that motivates people to buy can be complex.

Customer perception: Sometimes customers may perceive their wants as needs. It’s a challenge for businesses to realign this perception.

Building trust: Customers need to trust that the product will fulfill their need as promised. Building this trust requires time, consistency, and proof of effectiveness.

Often, consumers may not recognize their actual need or be aware of the potential solutions available. So, it’s up to businesses to identify these hidden needs and educate consumers about them.

For instance, a software company might discover that customers spend an excessive amount of time manually tracking tasks and projects. Even though customers may not see the need, the software brand can introduce a task management feature into their product. Then, they can then educate their customers about this feature. To do this, they might show customers how the new feature can simplify project management and save time. As a result, the brand addresses an actual need and influences the individual’s perception of product value.

Successful marketing strategies highlight the existence of real needs and present the company’s product as the perfect solution. This is called product positioning and requires keen market insight and creative thinking. Most of all, companies must experiment with marketing messages to find the ones that hit the mark.

Developing marketing strategies by linking needs and demand

The intersection of underlying need and demand is where marketing magic happens. To connect consumer needs with your product, you must understand the audience, types of needs, and how to position your product.

Here’s how to go about it:

Understand key influencing factors

The first step is to understand the key factors that influence why the customer buys a product. These factors can be tied to pain points, aspirations, lifestyle, social needs, cultural background, or personal preferences. Let’s use a fitness app as an example. Customer pain points may include lack of time for the gym, and aspirations could be their desire for a healthier lifestyle.

Use brand audit insights to develop a demand generation strategy

Remember, needs are basic human requirements, while wants are shaped by our social context and personal taste. Demands are wants backed by purchasing power. A product or service that aligns with customers’ demands will attract and retain loyal customers.

Conducing a brand audit is a key step towards understanding consumer motivations. A brand audit allows you to assess how your brand is currently performing and understand how it’s perceived by consumers. This information enables you to create targeted demand generation strategies.

If you’re ready to dive deeper into your customers’ needs, wants, and demands, then it’s time to schedule a brand audit. The Brand Auditors is ready to guide you through this process, from start to finish and beyond.

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