The Science Behind Psychological Marketing Tactics

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Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who came up with a theory dealing with the hierarchy of human needs. No, marketing is not essential to human survival, and chances are your product or service is not either. However, whatever you are offering, it will fall into one of the categories Maslow has listed in his hierarchy of needs. And if you know which need you should appeal to, it will be that much easier to market to your prospects.

The most basic of human requirements are psychological; the fundamentals crucial to human existence. These include nourishment, water, shelter and air to breathe, and other necessary activities, like sleep.

The hard part about selling a basic product or service that everyone needs is the immense competition from commoditization. For example, everyone needs to eat. However, what are you going to do to make your food appeal to more people than the burger joint across the street? Some of the solutions to this dilemma might be offering lower prices, tastier food, pleasant service, or a more hospitable eating area than the competition. Of course, the food you are offering should be such that it automatically becomes high on a customer's list of choices.

Safety and security make up the next part of human needs. If you look on TV, you will see ads for countless insurance companies, retirement accounts, and home monitoring systems, to name only a few. Keep in mind how your product could improve your customers' feelings of safety and stability, and use these topics to reach into the heart of the customer and therefore sell your product with more ease.

The next level is the need for belongingness and affection. Everyone wants to feel connected to family, friends, or someone special. Certain services appeal to this niche. Let your customers know how much they can connect with others, and use testimonials- this is an effective method of appealing to new customers.

Maslow also makes note in his hierarchy that esteem is another driving human need. Esteem really has two areas. One area is satisfied by receiving recognition, appreciation, rewards, or respect; the other area is self-esteem, which really requires a person to feel good about himself, be independent, and have a healthy sense of self-respect and self-confidence.

This makes me remember an old shampoo advertisement that once aired on TV. A gorgeous actress with beautiful, silky hair glides through an office building, drawing everyone's attention. She finally goes into the board room, where a meeting is taking place, and remarks that she isn't in fact a resident employee - all the fuss is caused by her beautiful hair.

The crowning level of Maslow's pyramid is self-actualization. This is a complicated sounding term, but the concept is really very simple. All people have an innate desire to make the most of themselves, reach their full potential, and be successful and happy as a result. The U.S. Army no doubt realizes this, as evidenced by their popular slogan, "Be all that you can be."

So long as you don't go too far, you can get your customers to notice you by making it clear how you can satisfy their needs. It will be helpful if you know what means of psychological motivation are effective on you and on your target audience.

Information about the Author: Daiv Russell is a management and marketing consultant with Envision Web Promotion. Read more Articles about Management, learn about Maslow and the Abraham Maslow theory. Market Research Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

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