Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Segment: College Students
Interviews

1. For my first interview, I decided to interview my older brother who is currently a senior in college. When asking him about his method for discerning alternative solutions to his problems he spoke mostly about the quality of a product or service and how that plays into his decision the most. While price can be important if there is a significant difference, he explained how he saw price as a value of the quality of the product or service most often and used it as a tool to determine quality. He also spoke about how he is willing to pay a higher price if that means the quality of the product is guaranteed. As a busy college senior, my brother often purchases most of his goods online in order to save time and money, while using cash in store and his debit card online. When asked about how he determines if a product was a "good purchase" my brother said that if he feels he got more value out of the product than he paid it was a great purchase and was definitely worth it.

2. For my second interview, I chose to interview one of my close friends Alexis, who is currently a sophomore at UF. Alexis said that as a broke college student, price is often her number one factor when determining whether to buy an item. When asked about where she buys most of her products she discussed how she makes weekly trips to the store with her roommates and barely ever purchases products online even though it has become very popular to do so. She enjoys having the items she needs right away without having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Alexis said how she determines if a product or service was a "good purchase" was by evaluating the cost of the item and then comparing it with how much use or enjoyment she received. Although these measurements are directly correlated, she said she definitely knows when she made a bad purchase after the fact.


3. For my final interview, I spoke with a freshman student who currently lives in a dorm. She said she purchases most of her products online through websites like Amazon because living on campus without a car makes it difficult to have access to goods she may need and it is easier for her to order it directly to her dorm and pick up from there. While she does consider price, she says she sticks with products she knows she can rely on for quality and style. For example, she discussed how she only uses a singular brand of face wash as she knows it doesn't irritate her skin and is reasonably priced. "When you order products online, it is the safest bet to order products you've already used before." Because of this process, she typically knows if a purchase will be "good" or not and if it is a new product she says even if the purchase turns out to not be great, at least she will know for next time.


Conclusion

These interviews were helpful for me to take a deeper dive into this segment of the market. While some college students prefer shopping online versus in-store, this isn't always the case. Price seemed to be the number one contributing factor when deciding whether or not to buy a product due to the fact that college students are often strapped on money in order to pay for the expenses of college. Quality of a product or service was the second most contributing factor, I think this is because students are selective when they actually do spend money and want to make sure the product is worth the cost and is of high quality. Most students were on the same page when it came to determining if a purchase was a "good purchase" or not by comparing the value they received from the product and how much they actually paid for the good.