Do we actually want anything?

We often react and respond to those induced values we have learned, either through group think, flock instinct. It can be mass marketing, parents, leaders or even movies and other such stuff.

Some are indiviualistic enough to create their own goals, and thereby these afore mentioned values.

We reach for what we think we'll want - we're a species condemned to mistake the symptom for the disease (so to speak).

I suppose there is a simple enough answer to my question, but the implications of not knowing what one wants, only believing to want certain things because we are programmed to, are many. We put so much stock into the "should" and not much into the "is" that we forget to remember that there is no purpose to our existence except that which we create. And in such a way, we have so much freedom and responsibility.
Is all want primal and our intellectual pursuits are just the manipulation of those? A person wants money so that they don't have to work so hard for their food. A person wants to have a flashy car or phone so that they can attract a mate or friends in order to not be lonely. And now I've gone and answered my own question. Thanks for the responses, though.