Managerial Approach to Marketing Cell Phones with Maslow's Theory

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In this paper, we will discuss about Maslow's theory of needs and its application to marketing management. We will also describe various stages of consumer behavior model and discuss how the concepts will affect the marketing efforts. The paper will be helpful in discussing the target market and main competitors in cell phone industry. It will also discuss the forecast in cell phone industry.

Hierarchy of needs theory proposed by Abharam Maslow is a well known theory in the study of human behavior. This theory has been considered influential in various fields, such as marketing, human behavioral study, etc. Abharam Maslow portrayed this theory in the shape of a pyramid which includes various levels of human needs. The levels of human needs include physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualization from bottom to top respectively. As per his theory, every human being has these needs (Montana & Charnov, 2008).

According to him, human beings first want to fulfill their physiological needs or basic needs, such as food, water, cloth, etc. After fulfilling physiological needs they precede to the next level of needs that is safety needs. Every person needs sort of security and safety after fulfilling the basic needs. Therefore, the safety needs can be defined as the needs for physical and interpersonal security, protection, stability in the lives of individuals. The most appropriate examples of safety needs of an individual in the workplace are job security, seniority, hospitalization, pensions, life insurance, etc. (Montana & Charnov, 2008).

The third levels of this theory include social needs. Every person needs love, affection, sense of belongingness in his life. So, after achieving his safety needs, the person proceeds to social needs. The next level is Self-esteem needs that can be defined as the needs of recognition, prestige, and respect pursued by the individual after fulfilling their safety and social needs. After achieving the above levels, the individual pursue to self-actualization. Self-actualization is simply a pinnacle of achievement and often defined as the maximum potential for achieving highest goals or aspirations by the individuals (Montana & Charnov, 2008).

Maslow theory can be effectively applied to marketing. Maslow's needs hierarchy theory is one of the most powerful marketing tools for marketing professionals. With the help of Maslow's needs hierarchy theory, the marketers get better insight and understanding of motivation for making their marketing campaign successful. The marketing personnel develop their marketing campaign by focusing on the unsatisfied needs of the customers or target audience. Every marketing personnel craft a unique and focused marketing campaign targeting various needs of the customers. The marketing campaign will be more successful, if the marketers effectively fulfill each level and then proceed to the next level of customer's needs (Kurtz, MacKenzie & Snow, 2009).

In the following section, we will describe Maslow's needs hierarchy theory applied in marketing. We will also discuss the stages of consumer behavior model. It will also discuss about target markets and major competitors in cell phone industry. The paper will also describe the forecasting made by professionals in regards to cell phone industry.

When an individual tries to determine what set of needs the customers are looking for, then the Maslow's theory will be very effective for marketers, as ...