15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interviews:



Individual 1.

-A classmate of mine, Sally, often times brings a small leather designer bag to classes and events. Her and I often times get caught up in short conversation.
Sally and I ran into each other yesterday and I asked if she could be one of my interviewee's, and if I could have approximately 10 minutes of her time.  I noticed she had her designer bag and a pair of designer sneakers and I decided to ask the questions geared to her life style displayed in front of me.

Question 1: I wanted to know her decision process when it came to picking out a specific pair of shoes. I asked her to pick between Coach, Louis Vuitton, and Dolce Gabbana sneakers and why.
Answer: "My first choice is Louis Vuitton, the quality has always been top notch, their products are spacious, and they depict a desirable lifestyles.
I wanted to gain more information on how they depicted this "Desirable lifestyle" so I took the question for an alternative spin.
Question 2 (1A):What about the lifestyle is desirable?
Answer: "Well, you always catch the glimpse of a comfortable lifestyle that displays success and wealth. Additionally, in most of their advertising ploys you see a relaxing kind of lifestyle.
Reflection: This was also very interesting lifestyle. To me I understood this as " I see an appealing lifestyle that I wish to someday have and I purchase the product to get me closer to that lifestyle even if they don't share a direct connection, causation vs correlation.
Question 3:Which platform do you use to purchase your purses like Luise Vuitton and what are three contributing factors for your decision?
Answer: "It honestly depends. I've found some excellent purses at boutiques but I often times walk away empty handed if they over priced. I search for deals and that usually takes me to my purchase decision. If I know a designer is customer focused and offers an acceptable return policy then I might buy the item online just to avoid the hassle of having to shop for it. Third, where are the deals at? I think the best deal can definitely sway a crowd to purchase, if the designer is reputable."
Question 4: What can turn a purchase sour, do you ever cross a brand completely off of your list?
Answer: "The absolute worst thing in any purchase is awful customer service. Aside from customer awareness, I'd also side with its lifespan and durability. I have stopped purchasing purses from a specific designer because their bags had a habit of always changing colors or fraying.



Sally gave a lot of insight as to how customers shop and ultimately make a purchase decision. In this instance I observed the various thoughts that lead to the purchase of a designer purse that has a lot of use. Sally seemed to be concerned about price and quality above all else. This makes total sense when you look at It from a customers perspective. These designer bags cost upwards of three grand, id hope they have a long life in my closet. Also, my purse serves me every day and carries my most important  items. I'd double think purchasing additional purses from that designer if it showed a pattered of short life, or if the company has terrible customer service. This can relate to my product because I can start to draw correlations between price and life span. How long should I update my product? How long should a specific product last? What is the market for this product and how can I make mine commutative?


Individual 2.

This week I sat down with the manager at my gym. I see him 5x a week and we always get into conversations about cars. I drove to the gym one day in my husbands car  (Porsche) and Eddie happened to really love the car. We were able to always spark up a quick conversation when I would check in before my workout. This time when we started to talk about cars I had the idea to investigate his purchase decisions and see if I could draw comparisons to my market. Obviously cars are completely different from health and workout equipment so they won't compare much, patterns may overlap and that is what I am looking for. In an earlier chat, Eddie has shared the fact that he drives a Volkswagen GTI Sport and his family was big into racing. His father actually owned a European auto mall and had a lot of high end racing cars like Porsche.

Question 1: I wanted to know his decision process when it came to picking out a specific pair car.  I wanted to know if there was a model preference over Make, or if any model under a specific company will be acceptable.
What is your first purchase choice if you could one of those cars that your father sold? Would you possibly pick a cheaper model if they specs are comparable?
Answer: "My first choice is a Porsche 3GTS Turbo. If I were purchasing this car and I had the funds readily available I most likely would have made up my mind before hand. If I go to the dealership and I see a different model with comparable specs I'd entertain the thought and maybe compare returns. What kind of return on investment can I afford to get from this purchase and will it beneft me in any way?"
Reflection:This was an interesting thought. A large purchase is usually made months in advance, in the customers mind. Does this apply for situations where the product cost is low and easily disregarded?
Question 2:Okay, so what led you to purchase your current car?
Answer: "I was in the market for a Mustang, I thought it was a fast car and I was behind the muscle. When I was shopping and looking at cars I also tested some cars that were on the lot. I had read some articles on reddit about the power behind the Volkswagen GTI the day before so I wanted to test drive it and see what all of the desirability was about. When I drove the car I absolutely fell in love with the comfort and feel of the drive. It was easy to effortless to control and put me in complete control of the experience. I bought the car!"
Reflection: This was very crucial for me! What this told me was that the customer can have a pretty good idea of what they want and still be swayed to a different choice. So who's mind is completely made up about anything?
Question 3:Would you trade your car in for a different one within the same price range, what went wrong?
Answer: No. I made a great choice that was backed up with passion. I would definitely interested in testing other cars and maybe owning other cars but right now I am ok with the choice I made. It's a likable color, its roomie, it has a disguised power.

Individual 3.


Marri is a new fitness family member of mine, I refer to my gym buddies as family. Marri has been rocking new gym clothes this past month and she's been talking none stop about them, even so much so that I purchased some too, haha! Today, during our jog, I asked if I could interview her about her purchase and experiences so far. I am invested in this because its very close to what my business idea is. These questions will help me understand her purchasing decision process.

Question 1: I wanted to know what brands she preferred for fitness and exercise and how she made her purchases.
Answer: " I have used various brands over the past few years and I have learned what to look for in the specific item. For instance, I need stretchy durable pants that allow me to move with freedom. I need the material to stick on so that it doesn't interrupt my workout or cause injury. Although something might look supper fashionable it might not be the best choice because it will lack a necessity like support. I do most of my shopping in boutiques because I have to try the clothes on do basic workout movements to see if there is any interruption to the feel or flow. I usually am disappointed by purchases made online if they're size specific."
Reflection: I aligned with this and it helped me kind of re focus my thinking a bit. before, I had been trying to focus my advertisements online with social media without thinking about a retail focus. In reality there are shoppers, including myself, that prefer going in store vs buying a clothing item online. This brought up an addition question.
Question 2: For the price that you paid would you trade the clothes out for a different brand, even if it meant getting fewer items?
Answer: Ultimately yes, I would get a different pair of leggings just because I don't feel like the sizes are accurate for my size. This can really hurt a brand if the stretch isn't there or if it exist in all of the wrong places.

From this I feel like I identified a lot of weak spots to work on for my business idea. I also feel like I gained a lot as well and I can now spot advantage points. Each segment helped to identify a completely different perspective as if we could connect with the customer. I think each and every answer given was perfect and couldn't of had gone better. This by far has been the biggest eye opening assignment yet!