Objective:

People know how they want to be treated, but sometimes we forget that others want to be treated in the same manner as us. This lesson is to show students that there are underlying fundamentals that everyone seeks, even those that we may see as different from ourselves. Students may get told that everyone should be treated equal, this will show them why, as well as make them understand why this is true.

Preset Activity:

Have groups come up with a list of what people they like do to make them feel good. What kind of reassurance do these people provide for them. For example, someone might always make them feel like they are doing things that acceptable. Also, what do you get out of other things that make you feel good. An example of this might be, I like to play sports because it makes me feel like I am good at something.

Lesson:

We have all heard of the saying that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. This is easy to say, but often hard to live by. We sometimes think about ourselves and forget that others have the same needs as us. There are some underlying needs that we all seek in some way. Packard calls these the hidden needs. Advertisements understand these needs, and plays on them in one way or another. If they didn't hit one of these needs, we wouldn't have any reason to listening to advertisements.
 

Packard's Eight Hidden Needs:

1. Need for Emotional Security - These are things that put our minds to ease. (Deodorant that is strong enough for a man, but made for women.)

2. Need for Reassurance of worth - These are things that show you are of worth or things to show others they are of worth. (Remember her with flowers.) (Improve your worth with career services.)

3. Need for Ego Gratification - This is letting people or a group of people know that they are special and deserve to be treated as such.

4. Need for Creative Outlets - this would be demonstrated in products that let you put your own touch in them. Most likely products would be food orientated. Hamburger helper lets you add your own creative touch to preparing it.

5. Need for Love Objects - We have a need to show affection for things. People who have kids that let the house can develop the empty nest syndrom. In these cases they might treat their pets like children. Animal products can play on these needs by saying their product would be a great example of providing the best for their pet, therefore showing their love for the pet.

6. Need for Sense of Power - We want to feel like we have power over something, like we have a say in something. Cars with bigger engines provide a product that will allow a person to show their superiority over others.

7. Need for Roots - This is, we need to have familiarity with things. We look for things that remind us of how we were raised, or how we have done things. This would be appealing to tradition.

8. Need for Immortality - Things that will keep you healthy, or make you remembered after you have died.

Activity: Design a product or service that fulfills one of these needs. Describe how it would fulfill the need and how you would get the message out about your product. These will be presented to the class.
 

Reflection: Have students examine how they fulfill these needs in their own lives. Have them write on each of these needs describing what they do to fulfill each of these needs. Are there things that they have in order to fulfill these needs, or are there things they do to fulfill them.