Classification Of Wants

Human wants are classified into three groups, viz, Necessaries, Comforts and Luxuries.

Necessaries:

Necessaries are primary wants of man. They are those things of life without which cannot live. They are the most urgent wants of human beings. A minimum of food, clothing, shelter, medicine is called the necessary wants. Necessaries are further subdivided into necessaries for life, necessary for efficiency and conventional necessaries.

Necessaries for Life:

Satisfaction of certain wants are absolutely essential for the survival of man. Food, minimum clothing, shelter etc. are the bare necessaries of life without which man cannot live.

Necessaries for Efficiency:

The commodities and required for maintaining working capacity at a high level are called necessaries for efficiency. Efficiency means working ability of person. Chair & table for a student are termed as necessaries for efficiency.

Conventional Necessaries:

The things which are not necessaries of life nor required to increase efficiency but are desired either due to social custom or force of habit are called conventional necessaries. Huge expenditures on marriages or funerals are examples of conventional necessaries. As a matter of habit, some people consume tobacco and smoke cigarettes. These are also called conventional necessaries.

Comforts:

comforts are those goods and services without which than can live but with which human life will be easy and pleasurable. Electric fan in summer, warm clothes in winter, a house furnished with sofa-set , tube light etc. are the examples of comforts.

However the distinction between necessaries for efficiency and comforts is nor clear-cut. Generally comforts increase efficiency but are not essential to it.

Luxuries:

Luxuries are superfluous wants which a person  desires to satisfy for displaying his sense of vanity. Diamond necklace, air-conditioner car, palatial building, an array of domestic servants etc. are the examples of luxury wants.

From the above discussions of the kinds of human wants, the following conclusion emerge :

•  If a want is for the existence of life or essential for doing a work or when custom and habit may force its use, then such a want or good is regarded as a ‘necessary’.
•  When a want adds to the pleasure and enjoyment and also the efficiency of a person, it is considered as a comfort.
• If a commodity or service does not add anything to efficiency but just meant for enhancing the prestige or showing vanity of a person, it is considered as a luxury.