We have seen already that human wants can be arranged in a general way in the order of their intensity. Any individual at any moment of time has a variety of unsatisfied wants, which he proceeds to satisfy, as far as he is able, in the order of their intensity. Standing first of all are the wants for food, clothing, and shelter, though few of us are conscious of such wants, since they are satisfied rather automatically as they arise. Then come the wants of less intensity, the nature of which depends on the peculiar desires of each individual. In arranging these wants in their order we must necessarily assume that differences in the prices of the goods which will satisfy them are a factor; for it is obvious, for example, that one might have a more intense want for an automobile than for a bicycle, and yet purchase the latter.

Differences in the intensity of wants account in large measure for modern advertising and modern window display. Each advertiser, as we have already noticed, expects to increase his business at the expense either of his competitors in the same line or, by creating demands for his particular goods, of sellers in other lines. The first of these expectations we may neglect at the present, for it is usually realized, if at all, by lower prices, better service, and good will. The second we will examine at this point. A retail clothier, let us say, advertises through the newspapers or by handbills and display boards the excellence of the goods which he has for sale. At the same time he also arranges his windows and displays his stock so as to make his goods appear as attractive as possible to prospective purchasers. If every one could determine exactly just when he needed a new suit of clothing and governed himself accordingly, the only object a clothing merchant would have in advertising would be to get business away from competitors in the same line. The normal individual makes no such calculations, and except when certain dress-up days, such as Easter, approach, few men give any serious consideration to the purchase of clothing unless prompted by some outside influence. In other words, the intensity of the want for a new suit of clothing is usually low. Knowing this, the seller of clothing exerts himself through advertising and display to stimulate the demand for clothing; that is, he endeavors to increase the intensity of the want for his goods to the point where sales can be made. In causing the need for a new suit of clothing to jump, as it were, over the heads of other needs more intense, the clothier has postponed, if not destroyed, the sale of goods in some other line. No limit to human wants. - We have seen also that there is no limit to human wants, though we must keep clearly in mind that there are limits to demands for goods. If any one of us should attempt to enumerate all the goods he wanted, it would be an endless task. Each individual has wants not only beyond what eventually become demands, but also for goods which he never hopes to possess. Many of these remote wants have little intensity; they are wants nevertheless. The child that cries for the moon or the young person that builds castles in Spain, expresses an unmistakable want, even though he does not realize the embarrassment that would come from having it gratified. The principle of the insatiability of wants has an important application to industry, particularly to production. Manufacturers and other producers need usually have no fear that their products will not be wanted. They must remember, however, that they can profit from these wants only when they rise to the dignity of demands.