What Matter's More? Happiness or Food?

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As the man sat there, deciding on whether or not he should purchase the new phone or pay for a bit of extra food. He knew that he wanted the new phone, because of the new and improved features, but he also knows that if he does get the extra food, he will be able to eat 3 meals every day rather than just 2. This decision is obvious to most people and is based on the idea of Maslow’s hierarchy, and that is why we get what we want in the order we do.


In the article entitled What Makes People Buy? 20 Reasons, written by Bryan Eisenberg, a author who has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, says that these reason come from Maslow’s hierarchy. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, there is a specific order people will fulfill their needs and thus purchase products, which is dictated by the place they are in life and how much of said hierarchy is already fulfilled. The base level of the system are the basic things people need to survive, products for sustenance, shelter, and general security. When people choose what they do, they will get the things to meet these ends before they buy anything else. As you go further through the system, you get more and more things that are less required to survive and are more wanted to gain utility. One example of this would be the idea that people buy to follow a fad or because of peer pressure around them.

Here are some examples:

• Physiological: Marketers pushing for you to drink Gatorade because it will improve how you exercise.
• Safety: The Ford Escape SUV being marketed for it's safety for family.
• Love/Belonging: A online service such Facebook, where they market for you to make more friends.
• Esteem: A program geared towards people wanting to improve their bodies, which will in turn improve their self-esteem.
• Self-Actualization: A program that advertises that once you take it, you will have a new level of creativity you had never had before.

This concept of buying out of wanting to follow a trend pushes to the point of why people buy what they do, especially things such as new technology. A real world example of this could be someone buying a new MacBook because the people around you bought it and you want to feel included to you go out and buy it to be like the others. These types of things help the company substantially while also giving the person buying the product a sense of happiness from it.



FUTURE BLOG POST: Why we always feel like we didn't make the right choice?