champaign · buyer psychology

What people actually want

We're born with eight desires. They sell more than all other wants combined. We've learned nine more wants — and they're far weaker. Click a desire and see the same service rewritten so it lands somewhere else.

The human map — the 8 life forces A person in the middle. Eight bubbles close around them are the biological life forces: survival, food and drink, freedom from danger, attraction, comfortable living, being ahead, the people you love, and recognition. Nine smaller fields on the outside are the learned wants, which are weaker and point inward to the life force they really stand for. Learned wants · weak Life forces · inborn stands for Being informed Curiosity Cleanliness Efficiency Convenience Reliability Beauty and style Economy and profit Good deals 1 Survival Live longer. Get more out of the time there is. 2 Food and drink Hunger, taste, pleasure. Older than language. 3 Free from danger Remove the threat. The strongest of all eight. 4 Attraction Being seen. Being chosen. 5 Comfortable living Less hassle. No daily friction. 6 Being ahead Status. Winning. Keeping ahead of the neighbors. 7 The people you love Children, family, your people. Move the consequence onto them. 8 Recognition What other people think. Belonging.

Drag the map sideways to see all of it →

Eight desires, one person

The eight bubbles close around the head are the ones we're born with — they sell more than all other wants combined. The nine fields on the outside are learned, and they're much weaker. Click one of them and the map shows which life force it really stands for.

THE MECHANICS

Tension → desire → action

Whitman's formula. Your job isn't to describe the product. Your job is to create the tension — and then present the product as the release.

1 · you do thisTension Put your finger on what's missing, what hurts or what's about to go wrong. Specific, not general. No tension, no action.
2 · this happens by itselfDesire The tension wakes up one of the eight life forces. You choose which one when you choose what to put your finger on.
3 · you do thisAction Present the service as the release — and make the next step so easy it can't be misunderstood.
SAME SERVICE

Eight headlines, eight different targets

The product doesn't change. Only the place in the person the copy aims at. Notice that two of the fields are empty on purpose — not all eight fit every business, and forcing it would sound silly.

Life forceRudefix · auto glass, B2CTaksering Assistent · app, B2B
1 Survival The car has plenty of years left. Start with the windshield. Keep the business running, even when the claims pour in.
2 Food and drink Doesn't fit. Don't force it. Doesn't fit. Don't force it.
3 Free from danger A stone chip turns into a crack. Usually on the highway. The assessment you didn't get double-checked is the one that comes back.
4 Attraction Doesn't fit. Don't force it. Doesn't fit. Don't force it.
5 Comfortable living You don't have to spend a day off at a workshop. Done with the case before you leave the car.
6 Being ahead The neighbor is still driving around with the crack. While the others are still typing, you've sent the report.
7 The people you love Your children sit under that windshield. Home for dinner. Not for paperwork.
8 Recognition A cracked windshield is the first thing people notice. Reports nobody questions.
About the examples

They're written to show the method, not to be used as they stand. Two things are missing on purpose: real numbers and real proof. Whitman's strongest single technique is extreme specificity — $410 a week beats make more money every time — but the numbers have to be true, and they have to come from the business. Also check that every promise can actually be kept before any of it goes live.

THE WEAK NINE

The learned wants — and what they stand for

They're real enough, but they're learned, not inborn. Use them as support, never as the main argument. The test is simple: if your ad's main message is quality, easy or cheap, you're standing on a learned want. Dig one layer deeper.

Being informedStands for 6 · being ahead — whoever knows isn't behind.
CuriosityStands for 1 · survival — something new can be dangerous or valuable. We have to know.
CleanlinessStands for 3 · free from danger — dirt is disease long before it's ugly.
EfficiencyStands for 5 · comfortable living — time saved is time without hassle.
ConvenienceStands for 5 · comfortable living — the most direct of the nine.
ReliabilityStands for 3 · free from danger — quality is the fear of it failing, turned around.
Beauty and styleStands for 8 · recognition — beautiful for whom? For other people.
Economy and profitStands for 7 · the people you love — money is rarely the goal. It's what it makes possible for the family.
Good dealsStands for 6 · being ahead — the feeling of having beaten the system.
See the marketing map — the machine around the human The whole campaign machine, phase by phase

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