As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want. When people have enough money, these wants become demands.
Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies （策略）. There are various ways of doing this. One way at supermarkets （ 超市）, for example, is to interview（采访） customers while they're doing their shopping. They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied．This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies. It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act.
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something. For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing. As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract.
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touting the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that. This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed.

随着社会发展，其成员不仅仅关注满足自身基本需求的事物，而是将注意力更多转移到了自己想要的事物上面。当人们有了足够的金钱，这些想要的事物就成为了市场需求。
如今，了解客户想要什么对一家公司的经理是至关重要的，如果他想制订出有效的市场营销策略的话。了解客户需求的途径是多种多样的。例如，超市会在顾客购物的时候对其进行采访。顾客会被问到喜欢买什么，之后超市方会对采访结果进行研究。通过这一途径获取的信息可作为未来营销策略的参考。百货公司的高级经理会采用另外一种较为常用的方法。那就是，每月花一到两天的时间以普通顾客的身份走访门店，了解客户行为。
给客户某些东西也是获取信息的途径之一。例如，有的快餐店会通过杂志或直接在大街上发放优惠卷，让顾客可以免费品尝到部分食物。这也是吸引顾客到餐厅消费的好办法，同时也能让经理知道到哪里去吸引顾客，吸引哪个年龄层的顾客。
一些知名游乐园，如迪斯尼乐园，会采用另外一种策略。高级经理会抽出至少一天工作时间装扮成米老鼠或其他什么在园内巡游。这为他们提供了检查公园场景以及观察游客的同时而不被发现的绝佳机会。