The decision-making process of a consumer is a very complex process, however, the complexity can be dissected through the understanding of some key components of the process. One of these processes is the problem recognition phase, in which the consumer r
marketing
Description
The decision-making process of a consumer is a very complex process, however, the complexity can be dissected through the understanding of some key components of the process. One of these processes is the problem recognition phase, in which the consumer realizes they have a problem that needs to be solved. In many cases, the consumer overlooks foresight and only realizes there is a problem well after the fact (Mothersbaugh & Hawkins, 2016). This results in a reactive response that can, if experienced by many consumers in close proximity, skew the effects of supply and demand. While the timing of exactly problem recognition occurs is very important to understanding consumer behavior, the information search stage that follows this stage is the focus of this discussion. The information search stage covers both internal and external forms of information. In almost all cases, once a problem is recognized, the consumer begins to pull relevant information from their long-term memory (Mothersbaugh & Hawkins, 2016). This is an example of internal information search. While specifics are often absent during this stage, the consumer makes general decisions on topics as attributes, affordability, accessibility, and necessity. This allows the consumer to disregard unfeasible solutions early on in the decisions making process. In contrast to internal searches, external searches are those that rely on outside sources or experiences. Many Millennials utilize blog reviews as their main external information search when conducting personnel product research (Schawbel, 2015).
