12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 

Choosing a segment: 

• For this assignment, I chose a segment of college students.  One from the University of Florida, one from Cornell, and one from Ohio State.  I chose a male from UF, and two females from Cornell and Ohio State.  All three interviewees are people who I know are generally healthy.  They strive to attend the gym frequently, and watch their intake.  They also have very busy schedules with their majors being finance, engineering, and accounting.  I interviewed these 3 students in that I feel that are prototypical customers. 

Interviews: 

1.  The first person I interviewed is a male college student attending UF.  He is currently a junior, pursuing a finance degree. I asked Jacob numerous questions, varying from how important health is to him, does fitness play a big role in his life, and what are his typical eating habits.  His answers were mostly consistent with the idea in that he tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but inferred he could definitely use some help.  He attends the gym at least 4 times a week, and tries to cook healthy however sometimes he finds himself indulging in the cheap spicy chicken chick fil a sandwich because of convenience and price.  He lives in a house with 4 of his frat brothers, and cooking just simply isn't their forte.  However, if they do decide to cook it's usually chicken nuggets.  I asked if he wanted to change this, and he answered immediately.  He said yes, without a doubt.  He just doesn't have the funds or time to buy healthy ingredients and put it all together. 
2. The second person I interviewed was my friend Rebecca, from Cornell.  Rebecca is currently a junior pursuing a engineering degree.  She participates in greek life, being a member of SDT, and is the president of two clubs.  I asked her the same questions I asked my friend at UF, and it turns out she has even less time to do anything remotely healthy.  However, this made her desire for help/ a service significantly higher.  She stated, she wants to eat healthy but does not have the time at all.  I asked if she were provided a service that was meal prepped for the week, would she use it?  She said she definitely would, however she stated she was really picky, so suggested my service have various options of meals, things that can be taken out, in other words, but customizability.  I completely agreed with this. 
3. Finally, the last person I interviewed was my friend who attends Ohio State, Alyssa.  Alyssa is a junior, and currently pursing a degree in accounting.  She is also a part of greek life, and spends a lot of her time in the library to make sure she obtains the grades she wants.  The thing about Alyssa, is that she is already very healthy.  She loves anything cauliflower, but stated it does get really expensive.  I asked her, would she be open to changing up the healthy stuff she eats if it came at a more affordable cost?  She stated that she would, but suggested the same advice as Rebecca.  Make the service/ product customizability for the consumer.  It would drive a lot more traffic that way.  

What I learned:

• During all three interviews, I asked one very specific question.  I asked, "When you become aware of your need, what is the very first thing you do to find a solution to their problem?"  I got similar answers from all three.  All three consumers said they usually type into google first "healthy easy meals" word for word.  They scroll to see recipe options, what ingredients are involved, and if they actually have any of those ingredients on hand.  Additionally, Alyssa also said she asks her mom for advice.  Her mom then gives her ideas of what to eat for the week, where to buy it, and exact details on how to make it.  However, the other two interviewees get stuck on google, searching and searching.  I asked if this ends up working for them, they said no.  However, although I learned this, I also became aware of how effective my solution/service could be.  People, specifically college students, want to eat and be healthy.  They really just don't know where to start.  I want my product/service to be the ignition. 

How I would describe this segment:

• There are a lot of college students who are pursuing a healthier lifestyle.  However, this product would be solely for individuals.  It wouldn't be bought by a group of friends, or shared, in that from my interviews I obtained people like different things, like to buy their own food, and have varied eating schedules.  This segment is definitely reachable, because of all the social media that exists today, and especially since google is usually where they head to first for solutions.