15A- Figuring out Buyer Behavior No.2

·      Begin with alternative evaluation. In the last case exercise, you determined how customers sought information related to solving their need. The outcome of this step is to produce a set of alternatives. Customers pick from among this set of alternatives. In this step, your job is to figure out how they do their picking. Does price matter the most? Does quality? Does style? Is there more than one factor that is important to your customer segment?

I interviewed 3 different people; 1 mom, 1 college student, and 1 homeless person.  After interviewing them the most important factor in deciding which alternative to go with was cost. Since my product is of high technology it would be a bit above the budget of most college students and they wouldn’t be able to afford a high price for my product and homeless people definitely wouldn’t be able to afford it. My best customer segment for my product would be parents. Quality definitely is a factor, I need to have a product that works perfectly and accurately, by giving accurate locations and fast searches. This would help evaluate the purpose of the high cost. Style doesn’t matter.

·      How/where do they buy? Elements of the actual transaction can help characterize your segment. Is your segment more likely to buy online or in a store? Are they more likely to use cash or will they finance the purchase? Etc. If this is a B2B purchase, who's involved in the purchase decision? 

Most of my interviewees stated that they would be more inclined to purchase my product in person. They explained how it’s a serious decision as it would require a surgical procedure and they would need to be shown examples of how it works in person. For my customer segment being parents, the mom stated she would most likely pay fully using a credit card.

·      Post-purchase evaluation. What matters most to your customers when they think back on the 'rightness' of the purchase? What helps them determine the purchase was a good idea? What sorts of things make them think a purchase was a bad idea? 

The interviewees stated that the most important aspect that would affect their post-purchase evaluation would be if the product worked accurately and consistently. They also said they would correlate how efficiently the product worked to the price they paid for it. The things that would make them believe it was a bad idea would be if the product didn’t deliver on its service consistently and accurately. That would make them believe that they spent too much on a low quality product.

·      Report the findings. Simply summarize your interviews and

Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation? 

I gained a ton of information interviewing these select individuals. I learned through alternative evaluation that the most important qualities of my product would be the cost of it and the quality. I also learned that the purchase decision of each interviewee differed in many aspects according to alternative evaluation. Meaning 2 out of 3 of my interviewees couldn’t even afford my product whether there was a need for it or not. This helped me evaluate what my customer segment would be, which would be parents. The interviewees stated that if my product didn’t deliver its’ service by giving an accurate location at all times, then they would have a negative post-purchase evaluation. They said if my product was high quality and accurate at all times, then it would be worth the cost as it could potentially save lives.