The 4 core human desires that drive any purchase
People buy products and services for a whole bunch of reasons, but there is one single commonality. They buy it to resolve an issue they have. And these issues can be derived from four core human desires that everyone has. The way we respond to these desires are different for every person but that has more to do with knowing who your audience is.
The four categories that purchases are driven by are acceptance, freeing up time, spending time in a valuable way and independence. The fifth category is a combination of these four as more often than not products and services respond to more than just one desire.
1. Acceptance
We humans are social animals. Some of us deal with solitude better than others, some even prefer it over social interactions, but everyone craves some level of acceptance from their peers. Everyone wants to fit in. Whether you want to be accepted by your friends, your family, your colleagues or even society as a whole, everyone wants to be accepted for who they are.
“Everyone can relate to wanting to fit in.”
Accepting yourself in the first place is actually the strongest driving force above all. People buy all sorts of things to achieve this. They buy clothing to feel good about themselves when they look in the mirror, they read self improvement books to be happier with who they are, they buy games to rediscover their inner child and the list goes on and on.
The stronger the relation to one’s self acceptance and/or their immediate social circles the more people will be willing to spend on that particular product or service.
2. Freeing up time
Time is finite. You can’t store it and there are 24 hours in each day, not more not less, but exactly 24. This makes time incredibly valuable to anyone, not to mention that you never truly know how much time you have left on the face of Earth.
Time being finite drives a lot of purchases to free up this valuable resource. People would buy all sorts of things from an accountancy service so they don’t have to spend their valuable time with it, through a blender to cut down on chopping time (pun intended :D) while cooking, flight tickets to cut down on travel time and so on.
The more a product or service free’s up one’s time on a regular basis the more people will be willing to spend on it.
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3. Time well spent
The third on the list of human core desires is to spend one’s time in the most valuable way. And this one is very contextual. After a long day at work the most valuable way to spend time might be sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine. Another time the most valuable might be going for a run. It very much depends on the individual's circumstances.
“What’s valued at the time is completely contextual.”
Time well spent falls into three categories. You value something because you’ve learnt something, you have helped yourself or others and finally you’ve made a memory maybe one that you share with others. People buy holiday trips, courses, cinema tickets, board games and so many more things to achieve this.
The more memorable and useful that product or service is the more money people will be willing to spend on it.
4. Independence
And the last on our list, before we move on to how you can find your purpose, is independence. Some are more okay with being dependent on the world around them than others, but everyone wants to be independent to a certain extent.
“Independence: to be only dependent on oneself.”
People would buy and do all sorts of things to achieve independence. From buying a bicycle to avoid relying on public transport, through watching how to become a plumber to a be able to fix the tap themselves to a phone to be more independent from their other devices.
The more someone craves independence the greater lengths they will go into teaching themselves new skills or buying products and services to achieve it.
5. A combination
As I said earlier, these core desires are not independent from one another. Usually products and services are responding to more than just one.
Let's say you bought a car. If it is an electric car, you will be more accepting of yourself for doing something to fight climate change, you will feel more accepted by others who are doing their bit to help this cause. It will free up your time if it cuts down on travel time.
“Products usually respond to more than just one.”
You will achieve greater independence by not having to rely on public transport and finally if you enjoy road trips and driving your car, chances are it will create happy memories for you that will feel like time well spent.
It’s your job as the business owner to understand how your product creates value in these for categories to your customers.
The road to success
Your job is to figure out how your product or service responds to these driving forces. Pinpoint the main category that you create value in for you customers, that’s where you start. Understanding this simple thing will help you innovate your product in a way that it responds to it even better and it will also inform your marketing decisions on how to market your products successfully.
“Pinpoint how You are creating value for your customers.”
If you are selling birthday cards, the emphasis isn’t on how great your birthday cards are, but it should rather be on how the recipient will love this card which will result in that person being more accepting of you. You are still saying that your birthday cards are great, but you are now approaching your products from the customer perspective, focusing on how your products are helping them rather than their purchase helping you.
Mastering the skill of putting yourself in your audience’s shoes will make them feel that you truly understand them and as a result they will keep returning for more of your products and services.
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