VISUAL SUMMARY
DIRTY PLAYING ON HUMAN NEEDS
Fabio Bondi
VISUAL SUMMARY
HUMAN NEEDS VISUAL IDENTITY SYSTEM
HUMAN NEEDS THEORY
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ourses in marketing teach Maslow’s hierarchy as one of the first theories as a basis for understanding consumers’ motives for action.
umans are meaning animals, so they tend to apply meaning to everything, that’s why at an irrational level we tend to perceive stimuli like the sight of the “Apple“ logo triggers in our brain the same chemical reaction of an Iconic image of the Virgin...
If producers design products (or communication) meeting consumer needs, consumers will more often choose those products over those of competitors. Whichever product better fills the void created by the need will be chosen more frequently, thus increasing sales.
Neuromarketing started to show us how our brain interacts with these visual inputs, but it doesn’t tell us why . The key to the reading of these dynamics that tend to categorize stimuli of apparently total different nature into something that works in the same way into our brain is to be found in human motivational theories.
This application of the theory, makes it relevant to the selling process.
One of the first theories relevant to understand why people buy was the “Theory of Human Motivations“ presented by the psychologist Abrahm Maslow. It dates back to the 1943 but is still the basis of present-day Marketing.
Human needs are categorized into an hierarchical system called “The Pyramid of Needs“.
The basis of Maslow’s theory of motivation is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, which exist in an hierarchical way so that, normally, human beings tend not to be concerned about higher levels of needs unless they fullilll the lower ones (you don’t really think about your haircut when you are starving...) There are general needs which have to be fulfilled before a person is able to act unselfishly. The satisfaction of these needs is quite healthy, while preventing their gratification makes us ill (like anxiety, anorexia, complex of every kind) or act evilly (selfishness, envy...).
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Self Trascendence Needs
Self Actualization Needs
Self Esteem Needs
Love&Belongingness Needs
Safety Needs
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Physiological Needs
Safety Needs
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he most basic needs of oxygen, food, water, and reproduction.
rotection from harm, the need for law and order. Safety needs can never be over satisfied, when children do not have their safety needs met, they tend to develop basic anxiety and may become neurotic adults.
Commonly satisfied in first world countries, physiological needs are the only needs which can be completely or even over satisfied. These needs are continually recurring, so we must seek satisfaction of this basic need on a daily basis.
In peaceful societies, safety needs are relatively easy to satisfy, but they become highly important during natural disasters, fires, accidents, and other life threatening situation.
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In Marketing:
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eople that are in this stage probably do not have a lot of money. Food and water must be their main priorities. They will buy cheaper things even if the quality is not very good because they can’t afford better quality items. These people are attracted to anything that will save them money. Other things (luxuries) seem minor to these people because they know they need food and water in order to survive.
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onsumers in this stage need to feel that they will be safe in the present times and in the future. They will purchase items to help them feel secure like retirement funds, selfdefense classes, and a safe shelter. They will also buy things to help protect their families and possessions and to enhance their feeling of safeness.
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Need for Love and Belongingness
Esteem Needs
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Maslow states that this level is what the majority of the population remains at. The desire for friendship, the search for a mate and the desire to be part of a family are all reflections of this need.
Maslow distinguished between two levels of esteem needs : Reputation and Self-Esteem, fundamentally important to find meaning within your life.
uman beings need to feel a sense of belonging, acceptance and identity, whether it comes from religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, social connections or, most important, the family.
ll human beings have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted by others, gain recognition and to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or life.
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nce we reach this stage, we are ready to take better care of ourselves. Individuality is important to these people because they are happy with themselves, have good self esteem and do not want to be like everyone else. These people will dress nice to attract praise because it makes them feel better about themselves and recognized. Consumers in this group want others to respect them, look up to them, and value them. People in stage four often purchase items like anti-aging cosmetics so they can look younger and have more control on the aging (or not aging as quickly) process, expensive clothes, cars, etc. so they will have the power to feel superior to others.
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cceptance and sense of identity are also big part of this phase. Everyone likes to fit in with other people, and nobody wants to be labeled as strange, unusual or weird. People in this stage of life will follow the current trends so that they’ll be accepted by their peers. Stage three is also the stage where people desire to be with other people. At this stage, tehy will usually purchase anything else that will help them to feel a sense of identity like name brand items, and trendy clothes to help them fit in and be accepted by their peers. Particularly relevant to this stage are the relatively new phenomenons of social networking, that seems completely shaped around these needs.
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Self - Actualization needs
Self transcendence needs
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What a man can be, he must be.” This forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person’s full potential is and realizing that potential.
he need to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize self potential.
Maslow also proposed that people who have reached selfactualization will sometimes experience a state he referred to as “transcendence,” or “peak experience,” in which they become aware of not only their own fullest potential, but the fullest potential of human beings. He made the point that such individuals experience not only ecstatic joy, but also profound “cosmic-sadness” at the ability of humans to foil chances of transcendence in their own lives and in the world at large.
People who reach this level are “fully human”, Maslow stated that only 2% of the general population and 1% of the college population is self-actualized. In Marketing:
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adly many people will never reach this stage, so more than people at this stage, it refers to people that want to reach this stage, offering solution to fully develop their skills and potential, shaping the message as a promes of real evolution. However, the people that do reach stage five are happy with themselves, and the lives they have lived. They buy things that give them enjoyment and soul nourishing like art, flowers and travels.
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his stage tend to be not totally involved in the Advertising’s gears. The need to understand humanity, the world, or to help others could be easily confused with the features of previous needs like the Love for family or willingness to help others in a materialistic way (through charities for instance) that could be due to a need of self esteem or public recognition for instance. People, at this stage, have a superior understanding of reality, so they tend to be attracted more by the “pure truth” or pure utilitaristic functions rather than possibilities of self-projection offered by the way to market products.
“Man is a perpetually wanting animal” Abraham Maslow
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first: Survival Needs (food, reproduction, sleep...)
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he image of the apple and the snake expresses the concept of food and also draw on the archetypal imagery of the “Primordial Sin�, reminding the reproductive function relative to this need. The color is a Human Pink, and refers to the human body, human flesh and his basic needs.
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second: Safety Needs
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he image of a shell expresses the basic need of a shelt in wich find safety.
The color is a Dark Sea Green, colore related to the feeling of tranquillity of the spirit. C 76 M 30 Y 50 K 10
third: Love & Belongingness
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he anchor is a symbol of belongingness, so the hart anchor represent the feeling of being loved, being part of something. The color is a dark Magenta. a color of passion and emotional health. it is associated with feeling of harmony; according to the psycholgy of colors: at its highest level it generates love, caring, kindness and cooperation, encouraging a balanced and harmonious outlook on life.
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fourth: Esteem
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he sense of esteem is something we externally attribuite to things, is not an intrinsec value. That’s why a sparkling stone has became the most esteemed symbol in the world imagery; and that’s why I choose this image to represent this need. The color is a Golden Yellow. Yellow is the most powerfoul of every color, it enhance the perception of value, it relates to the head, not to the heart.
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fifth: Self Actualization
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he symbol of an human silohuette in the meditating position and the big eyes are archetypal of reaching awarness and reachness of the spirit; stages of this need. The color is Indigo, a certain shade of blu that refers to the symbology of the Intuition (represented in many cultures with the third eye) and spiritual knowledge, that are the main feature of the self actualization process. Also according to the theory of perception of colors it is associated with: introspection, integrity, structure and order, winsdom and sincerity.
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sixth: Self Transcendence
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his stage of the human needs involvse the feeling of wanting to understand the world and other people, transcending our own vision of the things in search of a superior thruth. Two faces, one point of view. Two entities, one perception, this is the meaning I wanted to achieve with the design of this Icon. The color is a Dark pastel Purlpe that connotates the spiritualism, emphaty and love for humanity. C 60 M 60 Y 30 K5
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he poster presents the relative human need Icon and a brief explaination of it, also the overall color is its relative.
The background image is meant to create a visual continuity between the described need and a human imagery.
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he image of a baby’s hand holded by his father refers to a feeling of protection and safeness, feeling seeked by people at this stage of needs.
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ere the imagery of love and belongingness is brought into the poster by the image of kid cloaking himself, according to traditions of the community he belongs.
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girl putting her lipstick on is used here as a symbol of enhancing a sense of self esteem when in front of a mirror.
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elf actualized people are not hat common. Most of people will never reach this stage, or at least not at a young age. Winsdom is the main feature of this people, and this is what the sight of the old man in the background expresses.
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elf Transcendence is about understanding a bigger picture rather than simply our position and goal in this life.
Transcendence of human dimension is here expressed with the absence of an human imagery.
Fabio Bondi