12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1
Choose a Segment:
My segment is college students. I am choosing this population because I have easy access to college students being on a large college campus in a college-town. Additionally, this segment is a group of people who deal with the problem I am offering to fix and are very prone to damaging their phones or needing a repair. This population would definitely make use of my service. My interviewees are a male sophomore business major from South Florida, a female freshman engineer major from Tampa, and a male junior business student from South Florida.
Interviews:
In my interviews, my participants strongly agreed that there was a need for an easy way to repair our phones. They were all heavy users of there phones. The girl I interviewed is involved in many organizations on campus and needs her phone every minute of the day to respond to notifications and know about meetings, etc. Also, just to get around using the bus systems and Uber, my participants said they relied on their phones everyday for everything in life. They all said they wouldn't need my service everyday of their life, but it would be a safety net to have. In the case that something ever did happen to their phones, they all agreed that they would love to have this service and not have to stress about spending tons on a new phone/repair. The first guy said that he would need this service after a night out, as his phone tends to get damaged when he goes out at night and isn't as careful with it as he usually is. He has woken up several times to find new cracks on his screen or water damage on it. He says he is lucky that rice has resurrected his phone many times, but he worries that one day it may stop working and he'll have to buy a brand new phone which he can't afford. Basically, the situations where they have this need is when they expose their phone to water, drop it, or some other type of accident. The last guy said how if his phone were ever to stop working, he doesn't know what he would do because there are no Apple stores in Gainesville. He would have to take it to an off brand store and hope they wouldn't damage his phone, pay a high cost to fix it, and never take that phone to Apple again because they don't work with phones once they've been touched by another company. His only other option would be to be phone-less for a few weeks while he pays for a brand new phone to be shipped to him. All three students agreed that they'd have to talk with their parents and they would get yelled at for being "careless" with their phones. It would just be stressful moment and none of them were sure how they would deal with that type of situation to get an immediate fix.
Conclusions:
From my interviews, I am sure that their is an unmet need when it comes to damaged cell phones. Cell phones are an essential part of everyday life, as we all need to stay connected in order to be productive and we need them to get around. The second our phones break, we need an immediate fix and it is clear that there is not an immediate, cost-efficient fix. My service provides this. There is definitely an awareness of this need, as one of my interviewees has had experience in paying for a brand new phone after breaking hers, which was very costly. As far as information search goes, my interviewees said that they looked into buying friend's old phones or going to an off brand repair shop, which they didn't think was the best solution.
My segment is college students. I am choosing this population because I have easy access to college students being on a large college campus in a college-town. Additionally, this segment is a group of people who deal with the problem I am offering to fix and are very prone to damaging their phones or needing a repair. This population would definitely make use of my service. My interviewees are a male sophomore business major from South Florida, a female freshman engineer major from Tampa, and a male junior business student from South Florida.
Interviews:
In my interviews, my participants strongly agreed that there was a need for an easy way to repair our phones. They were all heavy users of there phones. The girl I interviewed is involved in many organizations on campus and needs her phone every minute of the day to respond to notifications and know about meetings, etc. Also, just to get around using the bus systems and Uber, my participants said they relied on their phones everyday for everything in life. They all said they wouldn't need my service everyday of their life, but it would be a safety net to have. In the case that something ever did happen to their phones, they all agreed that they would love to have this service and not have to stress about spending tons on a new phone/repair. The first guy said that he would need this service after a night out, as his phone tends to get damaged when he goes out at night and isn't as careful with it as he usually is. He has woken up several times to find new cracks on his screen or water damage on it. He says he is lucky that rice has resurrected his phone many times, but he worries that one day it may stop working and he'll have to buy a brand new phone which he can't afford. Basically, the situations where they have this need is when they expose their phone to water, drop it, or some other type of accident. The last guy said how if his phone were ever to stop working, he doesn't know what he would do because there are no Apple stores in Gainesville. He would have to take it to an off brand store and hope they wouldn't damage his phone, pay a high cost to fix it, and never take that phone to Apple again because they don't work with phones once they've been touched by another company. His only other option would be to be phone-less for a few weeks while he pays for a brand new phone to be shipped to him. All three students agreed that they'd have to talk with their parents and they would get yelled at for being "careless" with their phones. It would just be stressful moment and none of them were sure how they would deal with that type of situation to get an immediate fix.
Conclusions:
From my interviews, I am sure that their is an unmet need when it comes to damaged cell phones. Cell phones are an essential part of everyday life, as we all need to stay connected in order to be productive and we need them to get around. The second our phones break, we need an immediate fix and it is clear that there is not an immediate, cost-efficient fix. My service provides this. There is definitely an awareness of this need, as one of my interviewees has had experience in paying for a brand new phone after breaking hers, which was very costly. As far as information search goes, my interviewees said that they looked into buying friend's old phones or going to an off brand repair shop, which they didn't think was the best solution.
I enjoy reading your post. The segment you picked is definitely part of the market and you did a good job in finding the three customers. Definitely your customers are aware of the need, however they could do a better job in the information search. The fact that they are looking to find possible alternatives like buying old phones shows that they are waiting for a solution and for a system that can implement the solution. The positive take away from these interviews is that you definitely have customers interested in buying your product.
ReplyDeleteI remember, years ago, i cracked whatever iPhone i had at the time (i think it was a 3GS tbt) and decided to get it fixed at an "off brand" shop. Not only did it look like a crappy fix, after a week the screen actually came off and was hanging onto the phone at the top by what can only be described as "plastic string". Ever since then i refuse to get it fixed anywhere but apple and most of the time they provide a new phone all together.
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ReplyDeleteI liked the segment you chose because I feel that college students are really reliant on their phones and if they break need a fast and easy way to fix them. From these interviews you can definitely see that there is customer interest in this service you are offering, and I feel even outside the segment you chose there will also be a massive market.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this post just laughing because I am more aware of this need than anyone. My phone literally hates me. Not only is the screen completely shattered, but it won't allow me to answer any calls or face times. In addition to that, if my phone dies, it will not wake back up again for up to 20 hours and will show just the white screen with the apple logo. Therefore, I see so clearly this need and during my information search, I would HOPE to come across your idea. It would save me so much frustration and money!!
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