Needs and Wants
We are trying to meet the needs of our customers instead of focusing on meeting their wants. If customers made purchase decisions based on need we would all be driving Model Ts and Henry Ford would have been right, "The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black. " People may buy a product category due to need. However, they purchase a specific brand or from a certain company based on wants. In other words, needs define the total market and wants define the market segments. For example, people buy a watch because they need to know what time it is. One person buys a Rolex because they want the status and prestige associated with owning a Rolex while someone else buys a Timex because they want dependability inexpensively. It is often much easier to see the role wants play in purchase decisions when we're talking about consumer products. However, the concept is equally at play even in the business to business environment. Decision makers in the business world are the same people that are buying based on wants in the consumer world.