Society’s overview and people’s needs
Recently, I’ve been thinking about new tendencies that would likely come in our North American markets. What people would buy, how they will do it and why they’ll do it this way. I found out a way to look at those tendencies by using the well-known Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is, for people who don’t know about it, a theory that’s been hammered through all psychological, businesses and marketing classes from college to university.
Briefly, the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs defines the needs a human has to fill during his life and how this motivates him. Note here that it is based on what motivates people to get up in the morning and do what they do, to choose whom to talk to, etc. It is also important to understand that a person can’t get into the next pyramid level if the previous needs are not achieved. Even if a need at a lower level was granted it could still be deteriorated, changed to something better or lost (opportunities) at any time, setting back priorities and creating tension and anxiety.
Here’s how it goes :
Maslow’s Theory of Needs
In a interesting way, it’s possible to macro this theory to a society level : « Where does the majority of North American fit in this pyramid? I would say in the Love/belonging one. As for the physiological level, we can say that the majority can eat, drink water, sleep and go to the toilet. Regarding people’s sex lives, I assume that they find ways to get laid (virtually or not). Now, on the safety level, statistics show that unemployment rolls around 8% to 10% in Canada and US. People also live longer year after year, have access to electricity and possess a roof (home or apartment). I will come back later to the health part because healthcare in cases of life-threatening situations does exist and is accessible although it is important to mention that statistics show that 61% of Canadians were obese in 2007 (Forbes) and I assume the pourcentage is higher in the USA.
You might ask, « why is society not in esteem or self-actualization levels? », to that, I’d say that you are likely a positive person. I don’t feel like our society is achieving a lot to sustain itself as a whole. The rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer. Corruption is overwhelming, women are taken as objects, thus not equal to men. Just read any newspapers, reddit’s front page or anything else to get more into that. I don’t feel like people are confident enough, nor do they respect each others. Religions are still present and are cheap lotions to apply on confidence and self-esteem. Mind me, consumerism is seen as a religion too, Mega-centers are built like cathedral, magazines that show stars successes or failures are pushing down ordinary people’s self-esteem or are not respectful to stars themselves.
It is hard to evaluate the last two levels without getting into a political debate so let’s keep going with opportunities.
Business point of view
Knowing where the majority of people are can be very useful when it comes to businesses decisions like launching a company, a new product or a new service. Let’s compare the physiological level, the safety level and love/belonging level with a business point of view.
Physiological level
The physiological level represents the life-threatening needs. You get it or you die. Up to this day, businesses did not find all the ways to control the needs at this level yet (opportunities).
Businesses working at this level are usually monopolies, oligarchies, or governmental organizations. Those businesses are powerful, huge and strongly regulated by laws. They are also super slow on innovation due to the bureaucratic systems, the decisions procedures and their sensibility to people’s opinions being governmental or even illegals. To get into the physiological level market, a business must be top-specialized (ie: aqueduct, synthetic lungs, constipation solving product, prostitution) or have strong political connections. Also, corruption is omnipresent as we can see here in Quebec in this type of organization.
Every single human living needs physiological level businesses to solve their basic needs. Plus, people are getting more and more wrapped up in their work or in their personal interests that they are letting go fundamental bases such as knowing how to do gardening, build a shelter, start a fire or even cook. Some of you may say it is an opportunity cost not to learn these fundamentals, and some of you may just take them for granted. Consequently, more and more people will pay to go up the pyramid and let go of the knowledge that might prevent them from being dependent of products or services offered by physiological businesses.
This fact is true to all levels as well.
Furthermore, a business can change the consumers’ perception by making him believe he needs coca-cola, for example, to solve his physiological problems.
Food market is the biggest industry in the world and the first that comes to mind.
Safety level
Construction, healthcare, education, transport, gas (resources), law, insurance and security businesses are all part of the safety level. Those are mainly in the private sector and they are the most visible and powerful private businesses there is. The core products and services of banks, mechanical businesses like Bombardier or construction organization like SNC-Lavalin are in this category. I tried to find statistics from their advertising time or budget per year but I didn’t find any correlating the statement that these companies are the most aggressive ones on advertising channels. I do believe they are.
The businesses related to this category of needs are well-established which indicates that they are slower than small businesses to solve problems. They are everywhere and because the needs they solve are not physical it is usually easier to create a product or a service that can be sold. By that I mean that it is easier to lend money (resources) than help people go to the toilet or that it is easier to offer your carpenter skills than getting into the respiratory business. Plus, private companies need you to need them. Accordingly, these businesses will make sure they keep their customers in this state of needs. There are opportunities to help them (the compagnies) or to help people get out of it (think cooperative models, Dwolla, BitCoin, DIY sharing, etc.)
The Society as we know it has just gone past this level of needs.
Love/belonging level
By taking the time to look around, we can see we are overwhelmed with businesses wanting to solve the love/belonging level. As human beings, we’ve always had the need for love and belonging an we always will. The thing is that, as I am writing, divorce is rising and procreation is decreasing. Anxiety, stress and related diseases are also on the rise and time to nurture needs in this category is missing. It is because we, as North American workforce, struggle to reach a society status that will determine where we belong while fighting to keep what we acquired during the past levels. I personally think that real love and belonging, as it should be, is being torn down by the wheel of consumerist (opportunities). As a matter of fact, Facebook, EventBrite, cellphones companies, Zoosk and Match.com just to name these rose like a wildfire when they appeared on market. The question is : Do those businesses really help solve the love/belonging needs? (opportunities).
The others levels..
If you think a critical mass of the population has reached the fourth and fifth levels, then go on, the world is yours. I don’t know of a lot of businesses who try to solve the esteem or self-actualization needs with a mass product/service. I can, at the very least, think of one: Klout. Although, I am not sure it is right. It is based on a love/belonging level calculation and not an intrinsic sentiment of yourself. In other word, your worth is based on how much people « love » you.
And after
I think that being good at « innovating » is about feeling people around you. It’s easier said than done and may sound a bit cliché but by dividing needs into a pyramid that has been proven to work is an effective way to start. In my next article, I will go deeper into the pyramid’s analysis and try to dig up some real opportunities. You can start now by thinking how you can change level 1 and 2 into cheaper and scalable product/service using internet technologies (think of how the porn business got into the first level). You can help people get into the third level and make sure they keep their needs of that level or you can help people get into the fourth and fifth levels.
Bonus : Three dimensions pyramid
I was recently talking to my colleague who happens to be a psychology major and we discussed about a basic concept in marketing : the product range. Briefly, it means that a need can be solved by a variety of products of the same type, from cheap to expensive. Any product / service that solve the needs can expand from this perspective of range. The opportunities are endless.