consumer behavior

2.  Introduction
 Importance of Problem Recognition
 An Overview of Problem Recognition
 Threshold level in Problem Recognition
 Problem Recognition in the Industrial Buying Process
 Information Search
 Summary
 Further Readings

3.  Problem recognition is the initial step in the consumer
decision making journey when a consumer recognizes a
need or a want which is not being fulfilled by any of the
existing products or services available
 It starts when a customer is unable to fulfil current or
future needs with the products at disposal and starts to
identify the gap which now has to be filled with a
purchase of a product or a service
 It is also defined as a gap between the current state and
the desired state from the customer's perspective.

4.  It provides an initial clue as to why a buyer buys what he or she
intends to.
 It gives a definite direction to his or her subsequent purchase
behavior stages like information search and evaluation of
alternatives.
 It provides marketers with an immense scope for using their
influence in how the buyers may or may not recognize their
needs.
Thus a `virtuous circle' exists between problem recognition by
consumers and marketers stimuli or cues that prompt consumers
to react in a desired manner

5. Consumers can be classified on the basis of their different problem
recognition styles:
 The first category of consumers are those who presume that they
have a problem when their product fails to perform satisfactorily.
For example, a wrist watch bought by a consumer no longer keeps
accurate time.
 The second type of customers are those who recognize the need or
problem not because the existing product has failed to perform but
because of their desire of possessing something new.
This partly explains why Titan watches found a ready market even
though the HMT wrist watches more or less were quality performance
products.

6. Need or problem recognition can be both simple and complex
configurations, subject to associated conditions.
 Simple problem recognition refers to needs that occur
frequently and can be dealt with almost automatically.
 Complex problem recognition however, is that state in which
a problem recognition develops slowly but distinctly over a
long time.
At a certain time, the desired state of consumer mind is
distinctly apart from the actual state. This causes him to
recognize the need.

7. Since 1910, when John Dewey first introduced the five-stage decision
process, it has been a widely accepted concept and still serves as the
central pillar of a popular consumer behavior model. These stages are:
 Problem Recognition
 Information Search
 Alternative Evaluation
 Choice
 Post Purchase processes(Outcomes)
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/GordonBruner/publication/235253191_Proble
m_Recognition_The_Crucial_First_Stage_of_the_Consumer_Decision_Process/links/
02e7e53b32d9c9e28c000000/Problem-Recognition-The-Crucial-First-Stage-of-the-
Consumer-Decision-Process.pdf

8.  Problem recognition is the point at which a potential customer
realizes they need or want a product or service. It’s the first
step in the buying process and one of the most important.
If your customer doesn’t need or want a product or service, you’ll
have a hard time making a sale.
 Problem recognition is also often out of the control of
marketers, as it could be generated by something as automatic
as thirst making an individual need a bottle of water.
However, marketers can leverage content to help create a need
or want among their targets.
https://www.strattoncraig.com/insight/content-for-the-customer-buying-process-problem-
recognition/#:~:text=Problem%20recognition%20is%20the%20point,hard%20time%20maki
ng%20a%20sale

9.  Expected or Active Problem Recognition:
These are the problems about which the customers are actively aware and plan
to solve it themselves by looking out for a potential product or a solution which
resolved the problem. These are expected like broadband plan getting expired,
Need to enroll for a college course after schooling, buying a refill for printer.
 Unexpected or Inactive Problem Recognition:
These are the ones where the customer does not know if they require to solve
them or not. An example can be insurance policy in which a customer has to be
made aware that there is a need which is fulfilled by buying an insurance policy
and will eventually solve a future problem if it arises.