Needs and Values
Predict the behaviour of your customers and audiences by understanding their needs and values, and target them with messaging that aligns with their convictions.
What is the Needs and Values Framework?
Receptiviti’s Needs and Values framework comprises 17 measures that evaluate aspects of what motivates a person’s preferences, habits, and decision-making.
The framework includes 12 Needs measures that can be predictive of an individual's consumption preferences and habits. It also includes 5 Values measures that indicate what motivates and influences a person’s decision-making.
You can use Needs and Values to understand your audience or specific individuals, and create messaging that aligns with their unique needs and values.
More detail on the Needs and Values framework can be found in the Needs and Values documentation, here.
The 12 Needs
Identifying and understanding customer needs is incredibly useful in determining how they will respond to brand communications, product offers, campaigns tactics and incentive programs.
The Receptiviti Needs framework is rooted in the Universal Needs Map (Ford 2005). Ford’s work describes each need, as well as highlights how they complement each other, and how successful brands can appeal to strategic combinations of needs.
The Receptiviti Needs measures unlock immense potential for marketers, employers, and any organization seeking to understand consumers, audiences, and customers. Following are the 12 needs that can be easily measured using Receptiviti:
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Challenge: The tendency towards overcoming obstacles and achieving difficult things.
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Closeness: The need or prioritization of intimate and affectionate bonds with loved ones.
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Curiosity: The need or prioritization of exploring concepts that are either new to oneself or new to one’s society.
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Excitement: The need for energetic activity in life, whether it be physical, social, or mental. In extreme cases, these people may have trouble with downtime or quiet time.
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Harmony: The need for peace and agreement among those around a person. This may appear as an aversion to conflict or as strong conflict-management skills.
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Ideal: To strive for a utopian or idealistic reality – one may become disillusioned when this is out of reach, or may be resilient in persisting toward the vision of a better world.
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Liberty: To value freedom above all things, often at the expense of safety or equality.
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Love: To very highly value affection, typically romantic affection.
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Practicality: Someone who scores highly on practicality tends to make decisions based on what makes the most logical and practical sense.
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Self Expression: The enjoyment of discovering and asserting one’s own identity, sexuality, artistry, and creativity.
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Stability: The prioritization of comfort from things one relies on, and possible reticence of destabilizing changes such as leaving one's job or selling one's home.
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Structure: The appreciation of a methodical, careful, and logical approach to accomplishing tasks. Not likely to be spontaneous and not error-prone in one's daily work.
The 5 Values
The Schwartz Theory of Basic Values, developed by psychologist Shalom H. Schwartz, is a comprehensive theory that aims to understand the universal structure of human values and how they shape individuals' attitudes, behaviors, and decision-making processes.
Over the years, the labeling of these human values has varied. Schwartz’s work aimed at solidifying a core set of universal human values derived through empirical study in many countries across the world. His first iteration analyzed 20 countries to construct his initial framework of values (Schwartz 1992). He has since applied this framework to 68 countries to demonstrate its universality across humankind (Schwartz 2006).
Schwartz’s work boils down the core values into five unique dimensions, which are calculated by the Receptiviti Values framework. These dimensions are:
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Self Transcendence: Associated with the expansion of one’s personal boundaries, greater awareness of oneself and others, increased calmness and spirituality, and the experience of seeking coherence, integration, and meaning across all dimensions of life.
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Conservative: To hold conservative values and place significant weight on the ways of life that one is used to, while tending to believe that change should happen slowly.
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Self Enhancement: The need for inflating one’s own accomplishments or skills, often with the goal of elevating oneself above others.
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Hedonism: To prioritize physical pleasures, including (but not limited to) food, alcohol, drugs, and sex.
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Open To Change: To value open-mindedness and to listen to input from a variety of sources.
Needs and Values for Marketing and Communications
Targeted Advertising:
Tailor your advertising campaigns to specific the Needs and Values of your audience, ensuring they resonate with your audience on a deeper level. Read a case study.
Content Creation:
Create content that appeals to the different Needs and Values of your audience, increasing engagement and brand loyalty. Read a case study
Segmenting Target Audiences:
Segment customers more effectively by understanding the different Needs and Values orientations of target audiences. For example, some consumers may prioritize self-expression and stability, while others may value practicality and conformity. Tailoring marketing messages and product offerings to align with these different value orientations can improve relevance and resonance with specific segments.
Brand Positioning:
Brands can position themselves based on the values they represent. Effective brand positioning that aligns with consumers' values can create a strong emotional connection with the target audience.
Communication Strategies:
Marketers can craft communication strategies that resonate with consumers' core values. Highlighting how a product or service fulfills consumers' specific values and aspirations can lead to a stronger emotional response and higher engagement.
Product Design and Innovation:
Understanding consumers' value priorities can inform product design and innovation. For example, if self-enhancement and self-expression are highly valued by the target audience, offering customizable or personalized products may be well-received.
Influencer Marketing:
Influencers who embody and promote values that align with the brand can be leveraged to appeal to specific segments of the target audience. This association can enhance brand credibility and authenticity.
Social Responsibility and Cause Marketing:
Brands can engage in cause marketing initiatives that align with consumers' value orientations, such as supporting environmental causes or social justice initiatives. This can create a positive image and foster a sense of shared values with consumers.
Pricing and Promotions:
Value-oriented consumers may respond differently to pricing and promotional strategies. Understanding their values can help in determining the most appropriate pricing strategies and promotions that resonate with their motivations.
By incorporating Needs and Values into marketing strategies, you can gain deeper insights into consumers' motivations and develop more meaningful and relevant marketing campaigns that enhance customer loyalty.