What Do We Need?

A lot of consumers look at products and say, "I NEED that." The real question is... do you really need that? There are a few different types of needs such as a biogenic needs, psychogenic needs, utilitarian needs and hedonic needs that help a person decide if they truly need something.

Biogenic needs are "certain elements necessary to maintain life, such as food, water, air, and shelter" (Solomon, pg. 120). "Fred water" does a campaign explaining that without water you will die, they are letting consumers know that water is a biogenic need.

Psychogenic needs are "needs for status, power, and affiliation" (Solomon, pg. 120). Consumers who believe they are upperclass would never think of purchasing lower-class items, they have a psychogenic need for the status they portray. The picture below is a picture of the rich vs. poor. The people living on the right have more of a psychogenic need for status, power, and affiliation than the people living on the left.

Utilitarian needs are when "we emphasize the objective, tangible attributes of products, such as miles per gallon in a car; the amount of fat, calories, and protein in a cheeseburger; or the durability of a pair of blue jeans" (Solomon, pg. 121). The two pictures below are miles per gallon of a Hummer and milers per gallon of a Prius. If a consumer had an utilitarian need for miles per gallon in a car they would for sure choose the Prius because it gets way better gas mileage than the Hummer.

Hedonic needs "are subjective and experiential; here we might look to a product to meet our needs for excitement, self-confidence, or fantasy-perhaps to escape the mundane routine aspects of life" (Solomon, pg. 121). A persons hedonic needs would be fulfilled by buying a Louis Vuitton purse because of the luxurious image it portrays and helps them escape the mundane routine aspects of life when carrying this purse. Everyone knows what the LV stands for and by carrying this purse a persons need for self-confidence could increase.