Differentiating between a customer need and a want is also important. A need occurs when a person feels deprived of something (food, clothing, shelter and so on) while a want is a need that is shaped by a person’s knowledge, culture and personality (McColl-Kennedy, Kiel, Lusch and Lusch (1994, p. 10). So, a person may feel hungry and need food; the choice of food would reflect a want. Importantly, a need is purchased by non-discretionary expenditure while a Want is a reflection of discretionary expenditure. In other words, we must spend money on food to survive. The purchase of basic food items (bread, vegetables, meat, milk involves no choice or discretion While spending money on treats such as chocolate or alcohol is a choice and we can elect to make the purchase from the money we have left over after the non-discretionary expenditure is completed.
2. While we may prefer to operate as a monopoly, the reality for most organisations is that competitors are also vying for a share of the same market niche. The question then becomes ‘How do we satisfy the customer need better than the competitors do?’ Answering this question helps to identify the competitive edge that the organisation has over other operators in the same industry. When analysing com— petitors, Kotler and Armstrong (1991) believe that the organisation needs to focus on three levels of the product or service: