Skitch. Penultimate. Mobile phones shifting from fun to fundamental. Anyone who’s taken Psych 101 should remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a chart that organizes people’s needs, from basic physiological to safety and ultimately self.
So what’s that have to do with mobile technology? It’s a helpful guide in showing where consumers are currently spending their money in mobile and where it’s headed in the future, said analyst Chetan Sharma, in a new white paper (pdf) called How mobile will change the way we spend. Sharma said Americans overall spend about 15 percent of their income right now on the top of Maslow’s pyramid on self, which includes friendship, esteem, belonging, family and self actualization.