BUYERBEHAVIOR ASPROBLEMSOLVING 77
lemshe/shefaces.Conversely,anindividualmayowna carthatis twoyearsoldandrun-
ningverywell.Yet, forvariousreasons,he/she mayconsiderit extremelyimportanttopur-
chasea carthisyear.Peoplemustre Jo:vethese typesofconflictsbeforetheycanproceed.
Otherwise,thebuyingprocessforagiver.productstops at thispoint,probablyinfrustration.
Oncetheproblemiscecognized,it mustbedefinedinsucha waythattheconsumer
canactuallyinitiatetheactionth2.twillbringabouta relevantpwblensolution.Notethat,
inmanycases,problemrecognitionandoroblemdefinitionoccursimultaneously,suchas
a consumerrunningoutoftoothpas~~.Butconsiderthemorecomplicatedprobieminvolved
withstatusandimage-howwewant otherstoseeus.Forexample,youmayknowthat
youarenotsatisfiedwithyourappearance, butyoumaynotbeabletodefiDeit anymore
preciselythanthat.Consumerswillnotknowwheretobeginsolvingtheirproblemuntil
theproblemisadequatelydefined.
j\ft.arketer~ca'1becomeinvolvedin the.1eedrecognitionstageinthr~eways.First,
theyneedtoknowwhatproblemsconsumersarefacinginordertodevelopa marketing
mixto helpsolvetheseproblems.Thisrequiresthattheymeasureproblemrecognition.Sec-
ond,onoccasion,marketerswanttoactivateproblemrecognition.PublicServiceAnnounce-
mentsespousingthedangersofcigarettesmokingisunexample.Weekendandnightshop
hoursarea responseofretailerstotheconsumerproblemoflimitedweekdayshoppingoppor-
tunities.Thisproblemhasbecome particularlyimportanttofamilies withtwoworkingadults.
Finally,marketerscanalsoshapethedefinitionoftheneedocproblem. If a consumerneeds
a newcoal,doesh<;definetheproblemas a needforinex.pensivecovering, a waytostay
warmonthecoldestdays,a garmentthatwilllastseveralyears,warmcover:ngthatwill
notattractoddlooksfromhispeers,or anarticleofc10thmgthatwillexpresshispersonal
senseofstyle?Asalespersonoranadmayshapehis<:mwers.InformationSearchandProcessing
Aftera needis recognized, theprospectiveconsumermayseei(informationtohelpiden-
tifyandevaluatealternativeproducts, services,andoutletsthatwillmeetthatneed.Such
informationcancomefromfamily,friends,personalobservation,Ofothersources, suchas
ConsumerReports,salespeople,ormassmeciia.Thepromotional componentofthemar-
ketersofferingis aimed at providinginformationtoassisttheconsumerintheirproblem-
solvingprocess.Insomecases,the consumeralreadyhas theneededinformationbasedon
pastpurchasi ngandconsumption experience.Bad experiencesandlackofsatisfactioncan
destroyrepeatpurchases. Theconsumerwitha needfortiresmaylookforinformationin
thelocal newspaperoraskfriends fo r recommendation.Ifhehasboughttires beforeand
wassatisfied,hemaygotothesamedealer an d buythesamebrand.
Informationsearchcanalsoidentifynewneeds.As a tireshoppe;looks forinfor-
mation,shemaydecidethatthetiresarenottherealproblem,thattheneedis fora new
car.At thispoint,theperceivedneedmaych3.ngc;,triggeringa newinformational::;earch.
Information~earchinvolvesmentalaswelJat;thephysicalactivitiesthatconsumers
mustperformin ordertomakedecisionsandaccomp1ishdesiredgoalsinthemarketplace.
It takestime,energy,money,andcanoftel"involveforegoingmoredesirableactivities. The
benefitsofinformationsearch,however,canoutweighthecosts.Forexample,engagingin
a thoroughinformationsearchmaysavemoney,improvequalityof selection,orreducetisks.
AsnotedintheIntegratedMarketingbox,theInternetis a valuableinformation"ourceInformationProcessing
Whenthesearchactuallyoccurs, whatdopeopledowiththeinformation?HowGO~hey
spot,understand,andrecallinformation?In otherwords, howdotheyprocessinformation?
Thisbroadtopicis importantforunder~tandingbuyerbehaviorir.generalaswellaseffective