What Consumers Want: It's Immaterial
Perhaps the most fundamental tenet of a business is anticipating what your consumer desires. Convincing prospective purchasers to then select your offering, and doing so ahead of competitors, is the key to generating revenue.
Too often, however, firms focus on the material products they specialise in, losing touch with the psychological drivers underlying consumer decisions. When selecting a physical good or service, people do so because they perceive that it will satiate their deep yearnings for some or all of the following*
- belonging
- calm
- distinction
- ease
- novelty
- purpose
- reassurance
- security
- sexual confidence
- status
The most successful companies prioritise these existential human needs ahead of their merchandise itself. It is with great joy, for example, that I have been able to witness first-hand a shift amongst many healthcare industry leaders toward patient centricity.
Historically, pharmaceutical manufacturers concentrated the vast majority of their marketing budgets and development efforts upon physicians, but the democratisation of information via the Internet and widespread electronic telecoms devices provide patients with competence in clinical situations where they were previously dependent solely on the advice of their healthcare provider. This has meant that an understanding of the patient, their families, and their journey through illness back to health, as well as their perceptions and behaviours related to a healthcare product, has become fundamental.
While this complicates pharmaceutical marketing, it ultimately leads to better outcomes for healthcare consumers. This week, I had the pleasure of participating in an interactive conference where we split into teams to conjure up innovative healthcare products and services. At the conclusion of the day, when groups presented their ideas, every single one employed an understanding of deep immaterial needs of patients -- belonging, calm, reassurance -- to drive development of their offering, their marketing, and ultimately, their revenue. The society-advancing implications of each of these prospective projects was inspiring and I am confident that long-term interest in consumers in this manner will also serve corporations better than emphasising quarterly reports above all else.
As purchasers become increasingly intelligent through online product reviews and comparison websites, it is critical that producers across industries not dictate what goods are best for potential clients, but rather predicate their research, development and marketing on an understanding of existential philosophy.
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* see The Book of Life