Recently, someone commented on my blog, asking me to speak about what motivates people since I think I am such a good marketer. I thought that I had been addressing this in many roundabout ways, but I guess I was not being clear. So Danielle: What motivates people? Well, in the eyes of the marketer, I guess this is just a metaphor for: What will make people buy into what I am selling?

Well, this is not an easy question to answer, and in my opinion not all things should be marketed to all people. And not all people are motivated by the same things. Furthermore, not all things can appeal to the same motivations, which brings us back to the fact that not all things should be marketed to all people.

Sure, I have read articles speaking of the psychology of human motivations, I have seen some pie charts. But keep in mind, I did not study psychology, and I did not study business or marketing. I studied anthropology, the study of human culture. And one of the most profound things that the study of human culture is of the diversity of peoples around the world. And if you figure that cultures are so very diverse, causing people to have different sensory experiences, it must stand to reason that there can only be very ethnocentric/mono-cultural pie charts and articles speaking on the psychology of human motivations.

This, of course, does not help at all.

So what to do…

Think to yourself: Who would really want what I’ve got?

Then ponder: Why would they want it?

Then: Let them know what you’ve got and what they want it.

I suppose that is not really an answer to: What motivates people? but honestly this huge question does not apply to marketing. You only want to know what motivates the people you are marketing to, and this is really depends on what you are marketing.