Semantron 20 Summer 2020

Value

good living standards, good education, etc.? This is where the barrier between the two world opens. To measure the factors in the image above, 8,000 random people are given an in-depth questionnaire and are compensated with a day’s salary. The questions face criticism, because some of them are too religious or spiritual. Some of the questions are ‘ Do you meditate? ’ or ‘ How frequently do you pray? ’ I don’t believe that one must meditate and pray to be happy. By looking at GDP and GNH, we learn lots about the differences between the two worlds and how they are linked. I have also learnt that there are two ways of measuring value. We can judge the consumer value of all the goods that that we own, or we can judge our ‘ true ’ happiness and physical wellbeing.

Next, I will look at what customers want in the products they buy. I will discuss how spiritual values are an essential part of consumer value.

The diagram on the left (taken from https://hbr.org/2016/09/the-elements-of- value) shows the 30 elements of consumer value. A business’ aim is for their products to have as many of these elements as possible. These elements are what customers assess when choosing what to buy. There is one vital element which I think has been missed out in the pyramid is ‘ need ’ . Needs are very important, because before customers buy anything that will provide motivation or organization, etc., they will buy basic necessities, such as food and drinks. Whether you need something for survival or not, does affect whether you buy a product or not. However, people do still buy products which are not needed for survival. Whether you need a product or not for survival will significantly shape one’s decision of whether to spend money on that product or to spend it on another product. Many of these 30 elements are linked to spiritual values. These elements are those in the social, life-changing, and emotional categories. When you judge the consumer value of a product, you also think about how it affects your moral wellbeing. How do customers think about all of these elements? They think about what makes it good. For example, they think ‘ this bank is convenient ’ . The elements that they refer to are saves time, avoids hassle, simplifies, and reduces effort. Another good example is somebody who owns an expensive camera. Owning the camera would make them have pride in themselves and their ability to take pictures. The elements which matter in this example are quality and self-actualization.

The 30 Elements of Value model originated fromMaslow’s hierarchy of needs.

51

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs