Needs
Those requirements
which are extremely necessary for a human being to live a healthy life called
Needs. They are personal, psychological, cultural, social, etc that are
important for an organism to survive. Without
it, that person will suffer either physically or mentally.
Physical needs: air, water, food, health
Safety needs: shelter, security
Self needs: confidence, independence, respect,
education,
Relationship needs: friends, family, love,
community
Purpose needs: personal growth, mental
growth,
Wants
A want is a choice. A desire which a person
may or may not be able to get. Life will continue if a person doesn’t get what
he want.
For example, we all need to eat. We need to
eat in order to live. But the choice of what to eat leans toward want.
We can want pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can want to eat only
fruits and veggies. We can want to eat caviar and expensive steak. Life will go
on though, if we don’t get that..
In
economics, wants are defined as something that a person would like to possess,
either immediately or at a later time. Simply put, wants are the desires that
cause business activities to produce such products and services that are
demanded by the economy. They are optional, i.e. an individual is going to
survive, even if not satisfied. Further, wants may vary from person to person
and time to time.
Different between
Needs and Wants
The
following points are as the difference between needs and wants :
1. The term ‘needs’ is defined as an individual’s basic
requirement that must be fulfilled, in order to survive.
Wants are described as the goods and
services, which an individual like to have, as a part of his caprices.
2. An individual needs are limited while his wants are
unlimited.
3. Needs are something that people must have, in order to
live.
On the contrary, wants are something
that people wish to have, so as to add
comforts in life.
4. Needs represents the necessities while wants indicate
desires.
5. Needs are important for the human being to survive.
As against this, wants are not as important
as needs, because a person can live without wants.
6. Needs are those items, that are required for life and
does not change with time.
As
opposed to, wants are those items, that are desired by an individual either
right now or in future. Therefore, wants might change over time.
7. As needs are essential for life, non-fulfillment may lead
to illness or even death.
In contrast wants are not essential for
living and so non-fulfillment, does not have a great impact on a person’s life,
however, disappointment may be there.
With the
above discussion, on these two concepts of economics, it concluded that needs
and wants are separate forces, that compels actions for satisfaction. If needs
are not met on time, the survival of a person is at stake whereas wants are
something which a person is craving for, that does not challenge a person’s
survival if not satisfied.So, needs can be distinguished from wants on the basis of their level of importance. Hence, the distinction is between what is required and what is desired.
