Marketers cannot create real needs as they are internal states, but they can definitely shape them as well as wants and must haves. For example, the physiological needs of food and clothing are essential for people, but the other thing is what exactly a person would want to eat or wear. These wants can be created and shaped by marketers. It is done by different means of advertising and regular introduction of some new products. Marketers create the value of the product for consumers as well as give them reasons to buy it.
In my opinion, marketers play a significant role in shaping consumer needs, wants and must haves. The aim of advertising is to show the advantages of the product and motivate people to buy it. They may have a need, but they do not always know how to satisfy it. In such cases, marketing comes to the fore. Marketers give consumers options how to solve this issue. The essential objective of marketers is to discover the consumers’ needs and then to cause a want of the option they are providing. One cannot say that people want only what they know, but people are more likely to buy things which they saw in advertisements and the unique features of which they were assured of. In most cases, they will not buy things they are not aware of. One should keep in mind that the need or want may be shaped by the marketers, but the person simply can have not enough money to satisfy it right now. It is true that a lot of people can buy certain goods only because they were advertised so many times that it is a must to have them.
The vivid example of such must haves is iPhone promoted by Apple’s exclusivity technique. It consists in making the whole range of products exclusive. At first, the company put a restriction on the flow of the gadgets both to consumers and providers. The part of people who did not even care about an iPhone picked the desperation of those that expressed their want for one. It caused an increased demand because as more people talked about iPhone, the more people thought that it was probably a really good device and had an intention to buy one. (MсCormack, n.d.) That is how iPhone became a must have device, even though it is not an essential need to have it and it was not an initial want of people who now possess it.
Consumers should know the advantages of each option possible in order to choose the most suitable for them to satisfy their needs and wants. The task of marketers is to show those advantages and promote the best product they have for the certain needs. Marketers have huge power in shaping the needs and wants of consumers by using different advertising techniques. It is always up to a consumer to decide what to buy, but those decisions are very often made under the influence of marketers.
References
MсCormack, F. (n.d.). Apple's iPhone Marketing Strategy Exposed. Retrieved from https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/advisor/apple-iphone-marketing-strategy-exposed-032350605.html
