Summary Marketing 7-14
Chapter 7. Problem Recognition and Information Search
7-1. Problem Recognition
The consumer decision process generally begins when a person identifies a consumption problem
that needs to be. Problem recognition is the perceived difference between an ideal and an actual
state. The ideal state is the way that consumers would like a situation to be. The actual state is the
real situation as consumers perceive it now. The greater the discrepancy between the actual and the
ideal states, and the higher the level MAO, the more likely consumers are to act.
Forming the ideal state:
Sometimes we rely on simple expectations, usually based on past experience, about everyday
consumption and disposition situations and how products or services fulfil our needs. It can also be a
function of our future goals or aspirations. Also major changes in personal circumstances, such as
getting a promotion or becoming a parent, can instigate new ideal states.
Forming the actual state:
Actual states are influenced by simple physical factors, such as running out of a product, or
unexpectedly needing a service (a cavity requires dental work). Needs also play a critical role. If you
are hungry, your actual state would not be acceptable. Having a creative mindset can play a role as
well. Finally, external stimuli can suddenly change your perceptions of the actual state.
7-2. Internal Search: Searching for Information from Memory
After a problem is recognized, the consumer will begin the decision process to solve the problem.
Typically, the next step is internal search. This is the process of recalling stored information from
memory. Because consumers have limited capacity or ability to process information—and because
memory decays over time—consumers are likely to recall only a small subset of stored information
when they engage in internal search:
(1) the extent of the search,
(2) the nature of the search, and
(3) the process by which consumers recall information, feelings, and experiences and enter them
into the decision process.
The degree of internal search can vary widely from the simple recall of a brand name to extensive
searches through memory for relevant information, feelings, and experiences. In general, the effort
consumers devote to internal search depends on their MAO to process information. Thus, consumers
will attempt to recall more information when MAO is high. In addition, consumers can engage in
active internal search only if the information is stored in memory. Finally, consumers can recall
information from memory only if they have the opportunity. Time pressure or distractions will limit
internal search.
Much of the research on the role of internal search in consumer judgment and decision-making has
focused on what is recalled. Specifically, researchers have examined the recall of four major types of
information:
(1) brands, (3) evaluations, and
(2) attributes, (4) experiences.
,Brands: Rather than remembering all available brands in any given situation, consumers tend to recall
a subset of two to eight brands known as a consideration or evoked set. In general, the consideration
set consists of brands that are “top of mind,” or easy to remember, when a consumer is making a
decision. A small consideration set is usually necessary because consumers’ ability to recall brand
information decreases as the size of the set increases. Studies indicate that consideration sets vary in
terms of their size, stability, variety, and preference dispersion (the equality of preferences toward
brands or products in the set). According to research, brands that are recalled are more likely to be
chosen. The following factors increase the possibility of consumers’ recalling a particular brand during
internal search, and including that brand in their consideration set:
- Prototypicality
- Brand familiarity
- Goals and usage situations
- Brand preference
- Retrieval cues
Attributes: Often we cannot remember specific facts about a product or service because our memory
of details decreases over time. Thus, the attribute information we recall tends to be in summary or
simplified form rather than in its original detail. Nevertheless, consumers can often recall some
details when they engage in internal search, and the recalled attribute information can strongly
influence their brand choices. These are some factors:
- Accessibility or availability. Information that is more accessible or available—having the
strongest associative links—is the most likely to be recalled and entered into the decision
process.
- Diagnosticity. Diagnostic information helps consumers distinguish objects from one another.
If information is both accessible and diagnostic, it has a very strong influence in the decision-
making process.
- Salience. Research has clearly shown that consumers can recall very salient (prominent)
attributes even when their opportunity to process is low. For information to be recalled and
entered into the decision, it must have attribute determinance, which means the information
is both salient and diagnostic.
- Vividness. Vivid information is presented as concrete words, pictures, or instructions to
imagine (imagine yourself on a tropical beach) or through word-of-mouth communication.
- Goals. The consumer’s goals will determine which attribute is recalled from memory.
Evaluations: Because our memory for specific details decays rapidly over time, we find overall
evaluations or attitudes (i.e., our likes and dislikes) easier to remember than specific attribute
information. Evaluations are also more likely to be recalled by consumers who are actively evaluating
the brand when they are exposed to relevant information. For example, if you are ready to buy a new
smartphone and suddenly see an ad for a particular brand, you will probably determine whether you
like the brand when you see the ad. This activity is called online processing.
Experiences: Internal search can involve the recall of experiences from autobiographical memory in
the form of specific images and the effect associated with them. Like information in semantic
memory, experiences that are more vivid, salient, or frequent are the most likely to be recalled.
In addition to being influenced by factors that affect what we recall, we all have processing biases
that alter the nature of internal search. Three biases have important implications for marketing:
, Confirmation bias refers to our tendency to recall information that reinforces or confirms our overall
beliefs rather than contradicting them, thereby making our judgment or decision more positive than
it should be.
Another internal search bias is associated with limitations in consumers’ processing capacity. In this
case, all the variables that influence the recall of certain attributes—such as accessibility, vividness,
and salience—can actually lead to the inhibition of recall for other diagnostic attributes.
Consumers engaged in internal search are most likely to recall information that match their mood.
Advertisers are aware that marketing communications that put consumers in a good mood through
the use of humour or attractive visuals can enhance the recall of positive attribute information.
7-3. External Search: Searching for Information from the Environment
Sometimes a consumer’s decision can be based entirely on information recalled from memory. At
other times, consumers engage in an external search of outside sources, such as the Internet,
retailers, friends, etc. Two types of external search are prepurchase search and ongoing search.
Prepurchase search occurs in response to the activation of problem recognition. Ongoing search
occurs on a regular and continual basis, even when problem recognition has not been activated.
Researchers have examined five key aspects of the external search process:
(1) the source of information,
For either prepurchase or ongoing search, consumers can acquire information from a number of
external sources:
- Retailer search. Visits or calls to stores or dealers, including the examination of package
information or pamphlets about brands.
- Media and social media search. Information from advertising, online ads, and other types of
marketer-produced communications, as well as from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
- Interpersonal search. Advice from friends, relatives and/or other consumers. Sites such as
yelp.com and tripadvisor.com offer consumer-generated reviews of restaurants, stores, and
other goods and services, for instance.
- Independent search. Contact with independent sources of information, such as books,
nonbrand-sponsored websites.
- Experiential search. Using product samples or product/service trials (such as a test-drive) or
experiencing the product online.
(2) the extent of external search,
How much information do consumers acquire prior to making a judgment or decision. One of the key
findings was that the degree of search activity is usually quite limited, even for purchases that are
typically considered important.
When researching experience goods (products that cannot easily be evaluated until after purchase
and use), consumers tend to dig into the details and spend some time on each web page. On the
other hand, when researching search goods (products that can be evaluated before purchase and
use), consumers tend to cast the net wider, searching more sites but spending less time on each web
page.
As the motivation to process information increases, external search will generally be more extensive.
Eight factors increase our motivation to conduct an external search.
