The nature of problem recognition and search in the extended health care decision

Within the existing health care system, a significant percentage of Americans over the age of 65 will have need of extended health care. Yet the extended care industry has little information as to how consumers will make a choice among placement options. The results of this study describe both the need recognition and pre‐selection search stages of the decision process and the impact of need recognition on subsequent search activity. The information obtained from an influential person as the problem is being defined appears to have a complex relationship with pre‐selection search, with initial information leading to less search but additional information increasing search activity. Contrary to previous studies, pre‐selection search was found to be fairly extensive, increasing with time availability.