In basic marketing theory, when consumer wants are supported by sufficient buying power and willingness to pay, what do these wants become in the context of market demand?

Introduction / Context:
Marketing theory distinguishes clearly among needs, wants, and demands. Understanding how a simple desire turns into real demand in the marketplace is fundamental for marketing and sales professionals. This question asks what happens when a consumer want is backed by buying power and willingness to pay. It tests knowledge of the standard definition of demand in marketing and economics.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Consumers have underlying needs such as food, safety, and belonging.
• Wants are shaped by culture, personality, and preferences, for example wanting a specific brand of phone.
• Buying power represents the ability to pay, based on income, savings, and access to credit.
• The question assumes that a want plus buying power and willingness to spend interacts with the market.

Concept / Approach:
In marketing, a need is a basic human requirement, a want is a form that a need takes when directed toward specific objects, and a demand is a want that is backed by buying power. When many consumers have such wants that are supported by ability and willingness to pay, this creates market demand for a product or service. Therefore, when wants are backed by purchasing power, they become demands.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the key phrase in the question, which is wants backed by buying power. Step 2: Recall the basic definitions. Needs are basic requirements, wants are shaped desires, and demands are wants with purchasing power. Step 3: Apply this definition. When a person not only desires a product but also has the money and willingness to pay, the want is converted into actual demand. Step 4: Compare this with the options. The term that exactly matches wants backed by buying power is demands. Step 5: Select demands as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
Most marketing textbooks define demand as the set of wants for specific products backed by an ability and willingness to pay. This wording aligns closely with the phrasing in the question. Economists also use the term demand to mean the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices. Since both marketing and economics use this idea of willingness and ability to pay, the definition confirms that wants backed by buying power are correctly called demands.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option b, physical needs, is incorrect because needs are basic requirements such as food, water, and shelter and do not depend on buying power in the same way that demand does.
Option c, exchanges, is incorrect because an exchange is the act of giving something of value for something else and is a process, not the label for a want with buying power.
Option d, social needs, refers to needs for belonging and acceptance and does not capture the idea of money and willingness to pay.
Option e, supplies, refers to the quantity of goods that firms are willing to offer, which is on the producer side rather than the consumer side.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes confuse needs, wants, and demands and use the terms interchangeably. Another common mistake is to think that any want automatically creates demand, even if the consumer lacks purchasing power. It is essential to remember that demand involves both desire and ability to pay. Confusing demand with supply is another error, because demand is about consumers, while supply is about producers.

Final Answer:
When wants are backed by buying power, they become demands.