5.02 · The Psychology of Selling

The Psychology of Selling
What an old theory of human needs still explains about advertising.

Marketers work from a simple belief: people do not buy products; they buy answers to their needs. To understand those needs, many marketing courses still teach an idea from 1943. In that year, the psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” In it, he described a hierarchy of needs, an order that runs from the most basic needs to the most advanced.

You have probably seen Maslow’s ideas drawn as a pyramid, although he never drew one himself. The hierarchy has five levels. At the wide base are physical needs, such as food, water and sleep. Above them come safety, then love and belonging, then self-esteem. At the narrow top is self-actualization, which means becoming the best person you can be. Maslow suggested that we usually pay attention to the lower levels first.

Much advertising speaks to the higher levels of the pyramid. A desk lamp, for example, answers a practical need, because it gives light. But an ad for a handmade lamp may sell pride, style or the pleasure of giving a special gift. The product meets a practical need, while the ad sells a higher one.

Now compare two cars from the same company. An ad for a family car often shows children in the back seat and a calm, safe road, because many of its buyers are parents who want to protect their family. An ad for a sports car often shows an empty road and admiring looks, because many of its buyers want status and respect. In short, one company can aim at two different levels of the pyramid at the same time.

Maslow’s theory is not perfect, and psychologists have criticized it. People care about love and respect even when their basic needs are not fully met. Maslow himself admitted that the order is not completely rigid.

The theory has survived in marketing for one simple reason: human needs change very slowly. Products change every year, and ads are rewritten all the time, but people still want to feel safe, loved and respected. Ten years from now, advertisers will still be selling belonging, pride and security, and we will still be making decisions with our feelings as much as with facts.