Water: a need or a desire? An analysis of consume meanings

Authors

  • Mirela Jeffman dos Santos
  • Cláudio Hoffmann Sampaio
  • Marcelo Gattermann Perin

Keywords:

Need. Desire. Consume meanings. Bottled water.

Abstract

In basic marketing theory, especially in text books, it is very common to find the words needs and desires for constructing the marketing concept. This finding reveals the importance of these terms to understand the market area. In that sense, the present study intends to contribute with the literature in investigating the needs and desires associated to a vital product to human life: water. Our objective is to analyze consumers’ habits related to bottled water, evaluating if, in their perception, water is more strongly associated to the need or the desire meaning. To achieve this objective, we made a qualitative-exploratory research with 12 informants who live in a big city from South Region in Brazil. Through discourse analysis, we discovered that water consumer meaning is constructed by their personal historic, familiar influences and changes in life style, which approximates it to a need as much as to a desire, according to consumption objectives of each individual.

Author Biography

Mirela Jeffman dos Santos

Doutora em Administração, Professora Adjunta do PPGA/PUCRS

Issue

Section

Articles