The Dynamic Nature of Needs and Goals

(1) Needs and Goals are Constantly Changing: Needs and goals are constantly growing and changing in response to an individual's physical condition,environment,interactions with others,and experiences. As individuals attain their goals,they develop new ones. If they do not attain their goals ,they continue to strive for old goals, or they develop substitute goals.

(2) Needs are Never Fully Satisfied: Most human needs are never completely,or fully,satisfied. For example,at regular intervals people experience hunger need that has to be satisfied by eating. Mist people regularly seek companionship and approval from others to satisfy their social needs. Even more complex psychological needs are rarely satisfied. For example, a person may partially or temporarily satisfy a power need by serving on the local Government Council,but this small taste of power may not sufficiently satisfy his need,so he may run for successively higher public office. In this instance,temporary goal achievement does not fully satisfy the need for power,and the individual keeps striving to satisfy that need more fully.

(3) Success and Failure of Influence Goal: A number of researchers have studied the nature of the goals that individuals set for themselves. From their findings,they have concluded that individuals who successfully achieve their goals usually set new and higher goals for themselves,that is ,they raise their levels of aspiration. This is probably due to the fact that they become more confident of their ability to reach their goals. Conversely,those who do not reach their goals sometimes lower their level of aspiration. Thus goal selection is often a function of success and failure.

These effects of success and failure on goal selection have strategy implications for the marketer. Goals should be reasonably attainable to consumers. Advertisement should not promise more than the product will deliver. The reason is that even a good product will not be repurchased if it fails to live up to expectation. Research has shown that a disappointed consumer will regard a product that has not lived up to expectation with even less satisfaction then it's objective performance warrants. Advertisers who create unrealistic  expectations for their products are likely to cause dissatisfaction among consumers.

(4) Substitute Goals: Sometimes the consumer may not attain his goal. Where,for one reason or another,an individual cannot attain a particular goal or type of goal that he expects will satisfy certain needs, behavior may be shifted to a substitute goal. Even though the substitute goal may not be as satisfactory as the primary goal,it may be sufficient to remove uncomfortable tension. However,continued deprivation of a primary goal may result in the substitute goal assuming primary goal status. For instance,a man who cannot afford a Mercedes may convince himself that a Datsun has an image he clearly prefers.

(5) Multiplicity of Needs: Consumer behavior is often designed to fulfill more than one need at the same time. In this case the consumer may select specific goals because they fulfill e several needs. For instance the consumer may buy for protection and for modesty. In addition,the clothing fulfills various personal and social needs. Usually,however,there is one overriding or prepotent need (which dominates) that initiate behavior.

(6) Needs and Goals Vary Among Individuals: It is very difficult to accurately infer motives from behavior. The reason is that people with different needs may seek fulfillment through selection of the same goals,while people with the same needs may seek fulfillment through different goals.