Today, some marketers challenge the relevance of longstanding marketing planning frameworks that were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, describing them as outdated. But with businesses going topsy-turvy in 2020, lots of small business owners are re-strategising and a marketing planning framework or two could come in handy.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, personal care brands experienced a significant plunge in sales as with hospitality businesses and luxury brands. This is because people were concerned about what Abraham Maslow describes as “basic needs.” That is, food and shelter for themselves and their loved ones.
Though a motivational theory in psychology, marketing professionals have applied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, amongst others, to understand consumer behaviour. Maslow classifies human behavioural motivation as physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem and self-actualisation. These five motivations, often expressed as a pyramid, are further classified into three broad groups – basic needs comprising of the physiological and safety needs, psychological needs made up of belongingness, love and esteem and self-fulfilment.
Maslow suggests that humans move to the next stage in the hierarchy after fulfilling the previous need(s). It is only after an individual has met his or her physiological needs, that s/he will be motivated to pursue safety needs, then friendships and intimate relationships, prestige and feelings of accomplishment and lastly, self-actualisation.
A “dated” theory such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs becomes very relevant in 2020 as basic needs take centre stage. For instance, Nigerians have described hunger as the second pandemic. Such that there was a kickback when the government extended the lockdown. Some Nigerians said that if they didn’t die of COVID-19, they would die of hunger. With several small businesses on the brink of collapse, a business review is critical now. It might be worth re-evaluating the behaviour of your customers in line with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in charting a course for the future. If not, some other marketing theory could be useful. Dig dip into your knowledge bank
