Problem recognition (called the activation phase by Suominen, 2005) occurs whenever consumers see a significant difference between their state of affairs and some desired or ideal state. Consumers perceive that there is a problem to be solved that may be small or large, simple or complex (Solomon et al., 2002). A problem arises when either the consumer’s current state declines in quality (need recognition) or his/her ideal state increases in quality (opportunity recognition) (Solomon et al., 2002). Problem recognition occurs naturally but is often spurred by marketing initiatives that create primary demand, then stimulate secondary demand (Solomon et al., 2002).