BSB50815 Diploma of International Business

BSBMKG517 Analyse consumer behaviour for specific

international markets
Distance Learning Activity Week 8
Submitted by: (insert your name)
This Distance Learning Activity is due at the end of week 8 (Upload on Sunday by 11.55pm via Distance
Learning - Submission Point via Moodle).

1. Discuss the statement “marketers don’t create needs; needs pre-exist marketers.” Can marketing
efforts change consumers’ needs? Why or why not? Can marketing efforts arouse consumer needs? If
yes, how?

 Answer

Marketers do not create needs, although in some cases they can make consumers more
aware of unpleasant needs. The tactics taken by many new products illustrate that marketers
often do not recognize or understand consumer needs and they cannot create a need for a
product. On the other hand, there are many examples of products that are successful in the
market because they meet consumer needs.

Marketing efforts are generally not designed to change the needs of consumers but to
create or trigger a passion for "desires" for products / services that consumers then buy to meet
existing needs. Market-oriented companies use consumer research to uncover relevant needs,
translate them into "desires" by designing appropriate products and services, and position their
offerings as satisfying needs and want better than competing products / services.

Marketing efforts can arouse consumer needs and in many cases try to make consumers
more aware of the need for being uncomfortable or inactive. The company focuses on
developing and marketing products that promote satisfaction of consumer needs through new
and effective solutions.

2. Consumers have both innate and acquired needs. Give examples of each kind of need and show
how the same purchase can serve to fulfill either or both kinds of needs.

 Answer

Innate needs are physiological (example: Food, water, air, clothing, shelter, gender). The
acquired needs are generally psychological (example: appreciation, prestige, affection, power,

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 and the like). Purchasing a house meets the individual's innate needs for a place to live, but the
type of house he buys, the interior and exterior design, and its location tend to reflect the needs
obtained. For example, one can look for a place where a large group of people can be
entertained (meet social needs) and want to live in an exclusive community to impress friends
(meeting ego needs).

3. Specify both innate and acquired needs that would be useful bases for developing promotional
strategies for:

1. global positioning systems

2. sunglasses that can be customized online

3. a new version of the iPhone

 Answer

1. Global positioning systems in cars: physical safety and survival, self-esteem, affection for
one's family and friends, social needs, and even ego needs, using the latest available
technology
2. Sunglasses, that can be customized online: self-esteem, prestige, strength, ego needs
(impressing one's friends)
3. The new version of the iPhone: acquisition, ego needs (impressing a friend), strength,
prestige, self-esteem, learning, social, ego

4. Why are consumers’ needs and goals constantly changing? What factors influence the formation of
new goals?

 Answer

Needs and goals continue to grow and change in response to physical conditions, the
environment, interactions with others, and experience. When individuals reach their goals, they
develop new ones. If they do not reach their goals, they continue to fight for the old goal, or
they develop a substitute goal. Some reasons why human activities are driven by needs never
stop including, the needs that exist are never fully fulfilled; they continue to encourage activities
designed to achieve or maintain satisfaction, when needs are met, new and high-level needs
appear to be fulfilled, and people who achieve their goals set new and higher goals for
themselves.

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5. How can marketers use consumers’ failures to achieve goals in developing promotional appeals for
specific products and services? Give examples.

 Answer

Failure to achieve goals often results in feelings of frustration and individuals react
differently to frustrating situations. Some people are adaptive and face frustrating situations by
finding their way around obstacles or, if they fail, choosing a substitute destination. People who
cannot overcome frustration adopt a defense mechanism to protect their ego from a feeling of
failure when they do not achieve their goals. The eight defense mechanisms are: aggression,
rationalization, regression, withdrawal, projection, autism, identification, and repression.

6. For each of the situations listed in question 3, select one level from Maslow’s hierarchy of human
needs that can be used to segment the market and position the product (or the organization). Explain
your choices. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Maslow’s hierarchy
in segmentation and positioning applications?

 Answer

Maslow's hierarchy of needs gets wide acceptance in many social disciplines because it
seems to reflect motivation assumed or inferred from many people in our society. The five levels
of needs postulated by hierarchies are quite common to cover most lists of individual needs.
However, some critics argue that Maslow's concept is too general. To say that hunger and self-
esteem are the same, in the sense of both being a need, is to obscure the urgent, involuntary
nature of the first and the voluntary nature that is realized and is largely voluntary. The main
problem with this theory is that the theory cannot be empirically tested; there is no way to
measure exactly how satisfied a person must be before the next higher need becomes
operative. The hierarchy of needs also seems to be very closely related to our contemporary
American culture. Despite this criticism, Maslow's hierarchy is a useful tool for understanding
consumer motivation and adapting to marketing strategies.

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Developed by: ACBI Approved by: DoS Issued: October 2018 Review: October2019