Need Recognition
The buying process starts with need recognition - the buyer recognizing a problem or need. The buyer senses a difference between his or her actual state and some desired state. The need can be triggered by internal stimuli when one of the person's normal needs - hunger, thirst, sex - rises to a level high enough to become a drive. From previous experience, the person has learned how to cope with this drive and is motivated towards objects that he or she knows will satisfy it.
A need can also be triggered by external stimuli. Anna passes a bakery and the smell of freshly baked bread stimulates her hunger; she admires a neighbours new car; or she watches a television commercial for a Caribbean vacation. At this stage, the marketer needs to determine the factors and situations that usually trigger consumer need recognition. The marketer should research consumers to find out what kinds of need or problem arise, what brought them about and how they led the consumer to this particular product. Anna might answer that she felt she needed a camera after friends showed her the photographs they took on holiday. By gathering such information, the marketer can identify the stimuli that most often trigger interest in the product and can develop marketing programmes that involve these stimuli.
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