The terms “needs” and “wants” are part of the vocabulary of sociology, especially of the sociological branch devoted to the study of consumption and the economy, often with reference to the analysis and transformation of the modern consumer. A need is essential for organisms to live a healthy life. Deficiency of a need would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. It is in this way that needs are distinguished from wants. Wants, however, are born to induce man, understood as a consumer, to the next desire, creating a vicious cycle, where the market and the self-regulation of the latter play a crucial role.
Piergiorgio Degli Esposti (2015). Needs and Wants. london : Wiley Blackwell [10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs180].
Needs and Wants
Piergiorgio Degli Esposti
2015
Abstract
The terms “needs” and “wants” are part of the vocabulary of sociology, especially of the sociological branch devoted to the study of consumption and the economy, often with reference to the analysis and transformation of the modern consumer. A need is essential for organisms to live a healthy life. Deficiency of a need would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. It is in this way that needs are distinguished from wants. Wants, however, are born to induce man, understood as a consumer, to the next desire, creating a vicious cycle, where the market and the self-regulation of the latter play a crucial role.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
