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.
The following section of this paper reviews Maslow's (1954) Hierarchy of Needs model of human behavior and motivation. The next section of the paper assesses the model's applicability across cultures within the context of consumer behavior.
A Review of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model of Human Behavior and Motivation
Maslow's (1954) Hierarchy of Needs model of human behavior and motivation is (essentially) a drive theory. While the model is a drive theory, however, it also has provided a base upon which many behavioral and motivational strategies have been developed.
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) contented 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 ex...