This paper examines the integration of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as evident in advertisements from the 1950’s.
The paper introduces Abraham Maslow, the psychologist who made sense of the astonishing array of human motives by arranging them in a pyramid known as the “Hierarchy of Needs.” The paper explores how the “Hierarchy of Needs” was integrated into the advertising world of the 1950s. It also examines ten advertisements and discusses how Maslow’s hierarchy is a part of each one.
Advertisers started to attach emotional values, such as friendship and status, to products around the nineteen-fifties, using what they learned in psychology class. This emotional attachment is affixed to the product by building semi-conscious and subconscious impressions, or an atmosphere, around the product to create the impression that acquisition and consumption equate to good health, success, exultation, enchantment, moral righteousness, ethical certainty, trust, faith, superiority, coolness, freedom, liberty, self-esteem, confidence, democracy, and numerous other similar emotions and ideas. Three preeminent advertising techniques which apply Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to their advantage are the bandwagon, emotional, and fear techniques. The emotional attachment technique portrays images and ideas that appeal to certain emotions of the consumer. These ads imply that only by means of purchasing the product will he or she be able to satiate these emotions. The bandwagon technique in advertising, which suggests it is second nature to purchase that particular product, was predominant in the fifties. This class of ads suggests that without that product, life would be dysfunctional and unpleasant, and not all of the consumer’s needs would be met. The fear technique utilizes Maslow’s hierarchy , to …suggest to the consumer that not purchasing a certain product would be disastrous to them…(Lane and Russell 13), in that not all of their needs according to the hierarchy would be met. However, to what extent is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs integrated into advertisements from the decade in which the hierarchy was actually unveiled?