Consumer Behavior and Problem recognition

Consumer behavior
Consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, socio-psychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Belch and Belch define consumer behavior as 'the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires'.

Problem recognition
Problem recognition results when there is a difference between one's desired state and one's actual state. Consumers are motivated to address this discrepancy and therefore they commence the buying process.

Sources of Problem Recognition
Sources of problem recognition include:

• An item is out of stock
• Dissatisfaction with a current product or service
• Consumer needs and wants
• Related products/purchases
• Marketer-induced
• New products

The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with problem recognition is motivation. A motive is a factor that compels action. Belch and Belch (2007) provide an explanation of motivation based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

Are You Affected By Heat Illness?

Scientists don’t yet know why some people become seriously ill while exercising in hot weather, and others don’t. It is believed that exercise-related heat illness is caused by the sizzling rays of the sun beating onto an athlete’s skin, causing overheating from the outside in, and contributing to dehydration, which is the basic cause of heat problems.

This tells us about becoming sick directly from thwe hot whether but does not explain why athletes develop heat illness on overcast days, when sunlight isn’t directly reaching them. They’ve also been known to become ill on relatively cool days, when temperatures are below 80 degrees. And many collapse despite being fully hydrated.

Scientists have a pretty clear picture of what happens inside these athletes as they exert themselves. They bake. Muscles in motion generate enormous amounts of energy, only about 25 percent of which is used in contractions. The other 75 percent or so becomes body heat.

According to a 2007 position paper from the American College of Sports Medicine about heat illness, exercising can raise core body temperature by almost 2 degrees every five minutes, “if no heat is removed from the body.” Meanwhile, sunlight and high air temperatures do contribute to the problem, although not to the extent once believed, by increasing skin temperatures. Humidity also plays a villainous role, slowing or preventing the evaporation of sweat, one of the human body’s main mechanisms for removing heat.

Pizza - Violate Fair Wage Laws

Delivery drivers working for Pizza Hut, Kansas City filed a lawsuit against the national pizza chain alleging unfair wage practices. The Pizza Hut delivery drivers say that they received income below the required federal minimum wage.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Kansas City in May, says that delivery drivers are paid, the income that doesn’t include the cost of gas, employee’s vehicle to perform hourly wages deliveries. The hourly wage does not cover work-related cell phone usage and buying and cleaning of worker’s uniforms Pizza Hut requires. The cost to employees to work at the Pizza Hut is too high that the employee wages does not meet the minimum wage. Pizza Hut has tried to seek the dismissal of the lawsuit by stating that the company was operating within the laws and guidelines of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which permits a reasonable approximation of expenses.