Maslow’s Theory of Needs and Marketing, Research Paper Example

Abstract

Success of a product can be attributed to marketing techniques adopted by company. For a successful marketing it is necessary to understand target market, consumer buying behavior and competition. This paper analyses the application of Maslow’s theory of needs and Consumer Behavior Model in marketing. It also tries to understand the target market and competition that a new product is likely to face in marketing.

Introduction

Marketing a product is the one of the toughest thing for a company. If a company is successful in identifying target market and customer behavior patterns they will be able to market their product successfully. Maslow’s theory and customer behavior model are the most helpful theories for marketing. One needs to identify competitor and market size to adopt strategies for marketing. In United States organic clothing has become one of the most promising markets and a new product called medicinal clothing is introduced in this market. Paper tries to address the factors that will affect marketing of organic medicinal clothing in US market.

Maslow’s Theory of Needs and its Application to Marketing

Maslow’s theory of needs is based on human psychology. According to this theory basic needs are to be satisfied before fulfilling higher level needs. Basic needs are identified as psychological or biological needs like food, shelter, air etc. Next comes safety needs including security, protection, law order etc. A person needs to be satisfied with these needs before any other needs if he is to be motivated. After fulfilling biological and safety needs one will have to fulfill his love needs which otherwise are called as belongingness and they are affection, work, family, relationships etc. After this he will be trying to satisfy his needs of esteem and they are status, achievement reputation and responsibility. It’s only after satisfying all these needs that a person will try to achieve self-actualization or fulfillment or personal growth. It is the final stage. Fulfillment of each stage motivates the individual to reach for next stage and hence the needs take the form of a pyramid according to this theory (Tikkanen, 2007).

Figure 1: Maslow’s theory of needs model (Tikkanen, 2007)

When we offer a new product in market it is not only the product that we offer. We are also selling idea, image and result of the product. It is necessary to make sure that there is an idea in your product that others feel interesting, an image that is attractive and a result that is motivating (Hsu, 2011). It is the needs that motivate each of us. Motivation is the most important factor in marketing. A marketing person needs to increase motivation of consumers. If the product offered by a company is the one to satisfy basic or biological need it will be easy to market as biological needs are the most important. One need to satisfy this need before moving to any other level and hence biological needs will be of great demand (Tikkanen, 2007).

In a marketing campaign if the marketer can understand the demand of its audience it will be easier for him to increase their motivation. A marketing campaign of a product that can fulfill ones esteem will be useless for an audience who cannot satisfy their safety needs. So it is necessary for the marketing persons to understand the level of needs of their customers as well as target market. If you are selling a product to fulfill safety needs, what is to be made sure is that the target audience of your campaign is those who have their biological needs fulfilled? You cannot sell safety products among those who are searching for self-esteem or who cannot fulfill their biological needs (Tikkanen, 2007). Thus applying Maslow’s theory in marketing will be of great help to find exact market and customers for a new product.

The Consumer Behavior Model (or Industrial Model) and the Marketing Effort

It is important to understand the future of a product before it launches and for this company will have to research about the possible attitude or behavior of consumer towards their particular product. For this it is necessary to analyze the possible psychological reaction of target market towards their product. Behavior of consumer is affected by various factors and it varies according to environmental stimuli. Research on consumer behavior tries to reach into consensus under various environments and hence several models of consumer behavior are created since 1960. In most of these models consumer decision making can be found to be affected by various factors like information they get, evaluation of such information, need and purchasing pattern and follow up evaluation of a product. Each author gives importance to each factor and thus develops various models (Mooij, 2010).

One of them is Nicosia model where it is the relation between firm and potential customer that affects buying behavior of consumer. It is through marketing that the firm communicates to its consumers (Loudon & Bitta, 2001). Consumers respond to this information by making purchase. We can find a string relation between consumer and firm and consumer has an influence on firm through his decision to purchase or not. The model is given below:

Figure 2: Nicosia Model (Loudon & Bitta, 2001)

There are mainly four stages in this model. In first stage it is based on message from firm that consumer develops his attitude. First stage has two sub fields. In first field it is the marketing effort of firm that affects consumer behavior, target market and competition. In second subfield it is the behavior of consumer like his experience and personality that affects his buying behavior.

In second stage consumer searches about the information passed to him by firm. He also search for other brands and makes a comparison. Here the firm through its communication motivates the consumer to purchase their product.

In third stage consumer makes purchase on the basis of motivation.

Fourth stage is about feedback of both firm and consumer. It is the sales made by firm that acts as feedback while it is the experience of consumer that acts as feedback for him. It is on the basis of his experience that consumer forms his attitude towards the firm and view future messages given by firm (Loudon & Bitta, 2001).

In this model internal factors are not explained in detail. Relation between personality of consumer and his buying behavior is not explained. A consumer might find an advertisement very attractive but it is not necessary for him to buy that product. There are various other factors determining buying behavior of consumer. There are several other models describing consumer behavior under several environments (Loudon & Bitta, 2001).

Overview of product

Medicinal clothing is a new concept that is gaining market over past few years. Organic clothing is very popular now and with increasing concerns about environment organic clothing has gained much popularity. Cotton clothing’s with medicinal properties is the product that is marketed and this is of great benefit when people find very less time to take care of health, but is suffering from various issues related to health.

 Company’s Target Market: an Application of the Concepts

United States is the target market for selling medicinal clothing. This is due to the fact that organic clothing market in United States has increased dramatically over years and according to Organic Cotton Market Report 2009 sale of organic cotton in US has reached $4.3 billion in 2009. Increase of sales is 35% in comparison to $3.2 billion in 2008. Further it is also noted that companies are certifying to various standards of clothing like OE 100 standard Organic Exchange (OE) Blended standard which traces the fiber from field to finished product. These are all symptoms of growing demand. Companies are trying to increase their quality by adopting new standards and this is necessary to satisfy increasing market for organic cotton clothing. Most manufactures are certified by Global Organic Textile Standard (International Trade Centre, 2007).

In US organic cotton is easily available. According to Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC, US in 2009 planted organic cotton in an area of 10,731 acres where as it was 8,539 acres in 2008. Apparel industry is also finding organic cotton as the best fabric for manufacturing everything ranging from personal care items to trendy wears. This includes home furnishing, children’s clothing, fashion dresses for every age and even stationary items like note cards. Growth of organic clothing market in US is 10.4% during 2009 and has reached $521 million (International Trade Centre, 2007).

 Company’s Competition: an Application of the Concepts

Competition can mainly arise from organic clothing manufacturers and distributers. Main competitors are leading companies like Patagonia, Hess Natur, Coop, OTTO and Nike who shaped the market for eco textiles and organic cotton. Competition will also arise from other medium and small sized textile and clothing companies. There are 2000 small and medium companies manufacturing and marketing organic clothing. It is the leading companies that acquire half of organic clothing market in the world (International Trade Centre, 2007).

It is the market of organic clothing that will reduce with the introduction of organic medicinal clothing. This is because there is a chance for customers of organic clothing to buy organic medicinal clothing when they understand the benefit. Further competition can arise from fashion brands who have already established their space in market. Organic clothing with medicinal properties can be designed according to customer demand and even designer clothing can be produced out of this. Only issue that is likely to arise is with the fabric that is used. Only pure cotton fabric can be made use of for manufacturing medicinal organic clothing (PRNewswire, 2011). But that does not limit the designs as any designer wear can be made of cotton clothing. Market of organic clothing keeps on growing and it is youth who are more concerned about organic ways of living. Hence it is for sure that the market will be huge and by introducing trendy designs it won’t be difficult to attract customers. Further these clothing’s are also beneficial for children and old age alike.

Skin is the biggest organ of body and Ayurveda (traditional medicine of India) uses skin as the medium for infusing medicines to body. Ayurveda has gained much popularity now days. People recognize this science of medicine as the most natural method for treating diseases mostly without any harmful side effects. Further most Ayurveda treatments are beneficial not only to body but also to your mind. Ayurvedic treatment makes sure that your bodily systems work smoothly without any blockage and basic Ayurveda treatment always try to create a body that functions properly (PRNewswire, 2011). It is only after this that actual treatment for a particular disease is done. Thus it makes sure that any patient comes for treatment has a healthy body and mind. It is exactly the same technique that is being used in medicinal clothing which is based on Ayurveda texts.

In medicinal organic clothing, organic cotton is dyed using extracts from plants and herbs instead of synthetic dyes that are toxic with chemicals (Klein, 2010). Plants are selected in accordance with ancient Ayurveda texts. Hence it gives natural color and those wearing these cloths will also benefit from the medicinal properties of dye used for coloring the cloth. Adopting to international standards of organic clothing like Global Organic Textile Standard assures the quality of cloths used.

For those suffering from various diseases this can be a great relief for they will get medicinal benefits even without taking any medicine internally. All you do is to wear a dress that has the ability to cure your disease. This does not require any extra effort nor time and you can remain as always and medicine is absorbed by body even without your knowledge. You need not put any extra effort to spend any time for treating your disease. You can enjoy the benefit of medicines even while you sleep by using medicinal bed sheets. Further these cloths are pure cotton and hence are most eco-friendly in nature.

Customized clothing will be provided to suit the needs of each customer. It is for the designer to choose the design and color. Cloths for treating various diseases will be made available and customer can purchase the best suited product for treating his disease. He can buy not only dress but also various products with same medicinal property like bed sheets and towels. These cloths can also be used by healthy people without any disease to keep their body and mind free of diseases.

Conclusion

For marketing to be successful it is necessary that you find and persuade a prospective client for your product. It is at this stage that Maslow’s theory of needs is to be applied. Once you have found your target customer and market you need to know the buying behavior of customers. For this you need to check various environmental factors that are likely to affect buying behavior of customers and how they relate the relationship with company in taking decisions. It is necessary for the company to collect feedback and make changes in marketing accordingly. First step is to identify target market and then identify competitors, market growth, future prospectus etc. There need to have an idea about the method in which you are going to find a place in target market and among competitors. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs will be highly useful in taking decisions when it comes to marketing as success of marketing can be attributed to meeting of one of the needs mentioned by Maslow.

References

Centre, I. T. (2007). Organic Cotton : An Opportunity for Trade. Geneva: International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO.

Hsu, Y. (2011). Design innovation and marketing strategy in successful product competition. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing , 223-236.

Klein, V. (2010, June 23). Much A.D.O. Over Herb-Dyed, Ayurvedic Clothing That Heals All Ailments. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from www.ecouterre.com: http://www.ecouterre.com/much-a-d-o-over-herb-dyed-ayurvedic-clothing-that-heals-all-ailments/

Loudon, D. L., & Bitta, A. J. (2001). Consumer Behavior: Concepts And Applications. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Mooij, M. d. (2010). Consumer Behavior and Culture: Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising. California: SAGE.

PRNewswire. (2011, August 24). One-of-a-Kind Clothing, Based on Ayurveda, Launches Online. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from www.prnewswire.com: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-of-a-kind-clothing-based-on-ayurveda-launches-online-128316678.html

Tikkanen, I. (2007). Maslow’s hierarchy and food tourism in Finland: five cases. British Food Journal , 721-734.