Business Tips: The Core Human Drives That Shape Our Decisions

Core Human Drives That Shape Our Decisions

Whatever business you are in if you want to be successful it is important to understand what people want.

David Brett-Williams: Core Human Drives

Harvard Business School professors Paul Lawrence and Nitin Noria wrote Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices. According to them human beings have four Core Human Drives that hold great influence on our decisions and our actions:

The Drive to Acquire. The desire to obtain or collect physical objects, as well as immaterial qualities like status, power and influence. Businesses built on the drive to acquire include retailers, investment brokers and consultancy companies. Companies that promise to make us wealthy, famous, influential or powerful connect to this drive.

The Drive to Bond. The desire to feel valued and loved by forming relationships with others, either platonic or romantic. Businesses built on the drive to bond include restaurants, conferences, and dating services. Companies that promise to make us attractive, well liked, or highly regarded connect to this drive.

The Drive to Learn. The desire to satisfy our curiosity. Businesses built on the drive to learn include academic programs, book publishers, and training workshops. Companies that promise to make us more knowledgeable or competent connect to this drive.

The Drive to Defend. The desire to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our property. Businesses built on the drive to defend include home alarm systems, insurance products, martial arts training, and legal services. Companies that promise to keep us safe, eliminate a problem, or prevent bad things from happening connect to this drive.

Some postulate that there is a fifth core drive that Lawrence and Noria missed:

The Drive to Feel. The desire for new sensory stimulus, intense emotional experiences, pleasure, excitement, entertainment, and anticipation. Businesses built on the drive to feel include restaurants, movies, games, concerts, and sporting events. Offers that promise to give us pleasure, thrill us, or give us something to look forward to connect with this drive.

Whenever a group of people have an unmet need in one or more of these areas, a market will form to satisfy that need. As a result, the more drives your offer connects with, the more attractive it will be to your potential market.

At the core, all successful businesses sell some combination of money, status, power, love, knowledge, protection, pleasure, and excitement. The more clearly you articulate how your product satisfies one or more of these drives, the more attractive your offer will become.

I hope you found this information on the Core Human Drives helpful. Let me know how you apply this knowledge in your life and in your business.

Just one more thing before you go … I’d like to ask you to do one important thing for me – spread the word about this article.

That is all -

David