Human wants can be classified into three categories:- necessaries, comforts and luxuries.
1. Necessaries:
Necessaries refer to primary needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, etc. These are required to preserve life and efficiency. For example, a table and a chair may help a student to read and write efficiently.
Certain things become necessary due to habit, customs and connection. For instance, wearing of new clothes on marriage, birthday, Diwali, etc. has become necessary for many persons by force of social custom.
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2. Comforts:
Comforts make life easy and comfortable. They also tend to improve the efficiency of a person. For example, the use of a chair may be necessary but a customer will make it comfortable.
3. Luxuries:
Luxuries are things which do not increase efficiency but provide pleasance and prestige. They are usually expensive and are used to show one’s wealth and power in society. They are status symbol e.g. diamond jewellery, designer watches, imported cars, etc.
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The above classification of wants is not rigid. A thing which is a comfort or luxury for one person or at one point of time may become a necessity for another person or at another point of time.
For example, a car may be a luxury for a laborer, a comfort for a teacher but a necessity for a doctor. Whether a certain want is a necessity, a comfort or a luxury depends upon the person, the place, the time and the circumstances.
The things which were considered luxuries in the past have become comforts and necessaries today. For example, television was a luxury twenty years ago. But now it is a comfort. Similarly, computers may be luxury for many in India but it has become a necessity in America.