MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
This research examines Abraham Maslow's (1954) Hierarchy of Needs model of human behavior and motivation. There are two objectives of the study. The first objective is to assess the validity of the Hierarchy of Needs model. The second objective is to assess the extent to which the model is applicable to all cultures.
A Review of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model of Human Behavior and Motivation
Maslow (1954) built the theory of the hierarchy of needs on the needs, wants, and hungers of individuals. Maslow's (1954) hierarchy divides human needs into higher and lower orders. The lower order needs are primary, such as food, shelter, sex, and physical security, while the higher order needs involve love for other and self-actualization. When the lower order needs are absent in the life of an individual, the satisfaction of those needs become the center of the individual's life. In most modern societies, however, the primary needs are satisfied. Thus, real motivation to behave in a particular way results from individual desires to satisfy their higher order needs. Specifically, Maslow (1968) contended that factors must be introduced into the lives of individuals that, if responded to appropriately, will enhance an individual's opportunity to attain self-actualization (Maslow, 1968).
Maslow (1968) believed that the inner needs and desires of individuals were the links between motivation and behavior. Maslow (1954) posited that external entities 9organizations or individuals) could apply stimuli to persuade an individual that an inner need could be satisfied by a specific behavior. Thus, motivating individuals to behave in a desired manner (when considered within the context of the Hierarchy of Needs) requires the manipulation of that individual's environment. Stated in other words, the application of Maslow's (1968) hierarchy relies on stimuli to address an individual's...