Note: This is part 2 of a 10-part, weekly series that examines one aspect of what makes us tick: theories of behavioral motivation. In Part 1, I introduced concepts from two new books: “Marketing with Meaning” and “Your Brain at Work.”
Can marketers unravel the mysteries of motivation? Hold on tight…This slightly deeper blog series takes you on a ride that’s not for the faint of heart! Come along and explore how influence works in the complex world of logic and emotion known as the human brain.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (adapted from 'Motivation & Personality' ©1970) Source: Wikipedia Commons, ©2010, used with permission
Solve the mystery of the motivation pyramid
Let’s begin our comparison of new brain research to theories from the past by setting the record straight on a researcher who is referenced in nearly every general textbook on marketing. While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, introduced in part 1, is widely cited, some details of his work are often omitted:
1. Maslow based much of his research on healthy individuals whom he considered self-actualized, including historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and people alive at the time of his research, such as Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt. Prior to this, most psychological research focused on patients who were receiving treatment.
2. Maslow recognized the complexity of human motivation. In Motivation & Personality, he writes, “A motivation theory must account not only of the fact that the organism behaves ordinarily as an integrated whole, but also of the fact that sometimes it does not.” He added, “[N]ot all behaviors are motivated, at least not in the ordinary sense of seeking need gratifications, i.e., seeking what is lacked”—and he also addressed motivation in the contexts of hereditary drives, self-learning, cultural learning and even the “influence of reality on unconscious impulse.”
3. Maslow showed signs of concession on a strict hierarchy as early as 1943, a point which would later be the primary criticism of his work. He noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow the standard progression. (The body of research on this subject shows some support for his theories of motivation but does not substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy.)
4. Maslow included two additional levels in his early hierarchy that are rarely published in modern works. In A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow included the desire to know and understand, which, he said, for healthy people seems to have a “per se attractiveness.” This level includes curiosity, learning, philosophizing and experimenting. And he included another level: the aesthetic needs. (Again, he showed signs of moving away from a strict hierarchy. In comparing self-actualization and these two additional levels to more basic needs, Maslow wrote, “[W]e have seen the two hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated.”)
5. Maslow framed an eighth category just before his death, labeled “self-transcendence” by some psychologists:
The fully developed (and very fortunate) human being working under the best conditions tends to be motivated by values which transcend his self. They are not selfish anymore in the old sense of that term. Beauty is not within one’s skin nor is justice or order. One can hardly class these desires as selfish in the sense that my desire for food might be. My satisfaction with achieving or allowing justice is not within my own skin. . .It is equally outside and inside: therefore, it has transcended the geographical limitations of the self. Thus one begins to talk about transhumanistic psychology.
- The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (posthumously published in 1971)
6. Maslow did not create the pyramid construct. I find no evidence of it appearing until after he died in 1970. In his writings, he appeared to be careful to use quotation marks when labeling the being needs and self-actualized or self-transcendent individuals (for example, “‘higher’ needs” and “‘high-plateau’ people”). This is a subtle distinction, but I think representing the hierarchy as a pyramid implies that needs at the top are more important than those toward the base. (Note: I’ll bring this up again in part 8 of this series.)
Despite some limitations to his theory, Maslow’s research was innovative for its day, has stood the test of time and provides a good backdrop to understanding the success of traditional marketing.
Coming up in parts 3 through 7, I’ll compare recent neuroscience findings with Maslow’s hierarchy and discuss the implications for marketers—including examples.
How do you apply Maslow’s motivation theory in your marketing?
You might also like…
What motivates us: new marketing and brain research (part 1 of 10)
NEW brain research part 3: Become a marketing status symbol
NEW brain research part 4: Nothing’s certain but death, taxes and marketing
NEW brain research part 5: Autonomy and irrational decision-making in marketing
NEW brain research part 6: Can you relate to marketing?
NEW brain research part 7: Life’s not fair for marketers
NEW brain research part 8: The marketing implications of Maslow’s hidden levels
NEW brain research part 9: Book review: Bob Gilbreath’s Marketing with Meaning
NEW brain research part 10: Book review: David Rock’s Your Brain at Work
Nurture marketing: a strategically superior alternative to drip marketing
The 10 golden rules of marketing white papers
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