Problem recognitionoccurs whenever the consumer sees a significant difference
between his or her current state of affairs and some desired or ideal state. The consumer
perceives there is a problem to be solved, which may be large or small, simple or complex. A person who unexpectedly runs out of petrol on the motorway has a problem, as
does the person who becomes dissatisfied with the image of his or her car, even though
there may be nothing mechanically wrong with it