1.
Find
three people in the segment different from last time: The people I decided
to choose for this set of interviews were people who travel regularly and understand
how airports operate. They are three people from my study abroad program. I
interviewed two girls and one guy. Their names are Janet, Adrianna, and Mike.
2.
Begin
with alternative evaluation: Janet said that price matters the most to her
and that she would rather wait longer in order to pay less so that she can use
that money elsewhere. She doesn’t care as much about quality or style in her
normal, everyday purchases. So what I gather from Janet is that she wouldn’t be
as interested in going to a more expensive airport just because it is more
efficient. Adrianna said that she greatly values her time and would pay to save
it. In her mind ‘time is money’ so why not pay to have more time to do other
things rather than wait in line. She also values quality in her everyday
purchases. Mike said that we would rather save time as well, but it greatly
depends on the price. He is a reasonable guy and like quality in certain areas
of his life.
3.
How/where
do they buy: Most people who book airline tickets do it online so this wasn’t
the best question for my specific market, but I did ask them what they usually
pay for on their travels and I believe that gave me some insight into their
consumer behaviors. For instance, Janet said that she usually buys whatever has
a deal and this is usually buy the deals online because they are cheaper than
buying in person. Adrianna said that she like to be spontaneous and buy at the
store. So that is not business-to-business because she is buying directly form the
store. Mike will usually look at the product online and then go in-store to
check the quality, and then buy online with a deal. He is a window shopper.
4.
Post-purchase
evaluation: Janet says that she believes it was a good purchase when she
got a good deal out of it. She always feels good when she is saving money. Adrianna
says that she feels good after a purchase when the purchase was quality and
really benefitted her life. Mike thinks that it was a good purchase when he
makes a good tradeoff and used his money wisely.
5.
Summarized
findings: In summary, these interviews showed me that people are very
different in their buying decisions. Some people are also very stuck in their
own ways and money is a very touchy subject with most people. What I have
observed is a narrow market of travelers that value saving time and would pay
to fly through a more efficient airport so they could see more things.
6.
Draw conclusions:
In terms of alternative evaluation, I found that some people in this market won’t
go for the more efficient route because they would rather save money instead of
time. In terms of purchase decision, most travelers would choose the most
efficient option as long as it makes sense to do so. And in terms of
post-purchase evaluation, most of the segment would feel good about a purchase
if it brought them more of a benefit than a loss.
Hi Mary, This post was very interesting to me considering that I have recently been in the process of booking flights and trying to find flights home last minute. There is a lot that goes into booking a flight and making sure that it is cost effective. I usually book my flights on websites that offer the best deals. I agree with your conclusions because when I book flights I look for a cheap price and a non-connecting flight.
ReplyDeleteHey Mary! I think the segment you chose this time was very good for conducting your interviews. People who regularly travel, especially going abroad, are perfect to assess whether you have a decent product. This seemed to have a big money vs time theme in the interviews. I would personally want to save money too, because you can always just come to an airport earlier but you might not have infinite money. It was good to see how different people are in their buying decisions! It’s a real eye opener.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post Mary! I think you did excellent research on your topic and found it very interesting to see the difference in buyer behavior. While some people are willing to pay more money, others are not, and that creates an interesting dynamic for your topic. I think your idea has a lot of potential if you put in the work necessary for it to be successful one day!
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