Figuring out buyer behavior no. 2

For the second portion of this exercise, in my interviews I focused on the alternatives people evaluate when looking at a product and what is ultimately the factor that leads to their final decision. The segment I chose from last week and the one I am still writing on this week focuses on people and the cleaning supplies/appliances that they buy for their homes. Last week all three of my interviewees were female, so this week I interviewed one female and two males. My first interview was with a woman named Mary-Ann, and when asked about the factors that she takes into consideration when buying her supplies, she listed about five things off the top of her head. As a mother of three, she said that she wants a product that is kid-friendly, and not too difficult to use so when they get older, she can teach the kids about chores and household cleaning. And example she gave when I asked her about the simple design was about a vacuum cleaner she just purchased that had one button for on and off, and was lightweight and easy to change directions when operating. Price was the second thing Mary-Ann listed, because she said that with children, always assume the product will end up breaking and you’ll need to buy a replacement. For my second interview, I spoke with a man named James. After talking with him for a while about his buying habits, he told me that his longtime girlfriend-turned fiancee usually did the picking out of their cleaning things because she has a particular style, and she wanted everything to go together. James mentioned that if he were picking anything out on his own, he might do a Google search for about ten minutes and then pick the cheapest thing with a rating of around three stars. For my final interview, I talked to a store worker named Marcus, who included many of the same reasons as the first two for what they look for in buying his products. 

For actually buying the items, all three of the people Interviewed said they are more likely to buy products online, because it’s easier to look up customer reviews and things like that. For my first two interviewees, they said they typically budget a purchase into their finances, while Marcus said he doesn’t plan that sort of thing too much. All three replied that people involved in the purchasing decision were either only themselves or their immediate family. When I asked Mary-Ann about how she gauged her purchase after the fact, she said as long at is works for a good while cleaning up after the kids, it was a good buy. The men gave replies along the lines of if a product works well for a period of time past what they think it should, then they’re happy that they got their money’s worth and don’t really care how it operates after that. As far as bad purchases go, the three said a purchase was bad if it broke, or if it wasn’t really as helpful as described to be (an example here given was about a dust collector to help clean blinds that actually ended up breaking the blinds rather than cleaning them). 

In my interviews, I’d say that all three people are fairly logical and price-conscious when choosing a product, and mainly care about the quality of the product rather than outward appearance or name brand. In general, I would describe this segment to be pretty savvy in therms of alternate evaluation. Nowadays, it’s so easy to compare product reviews and customer feedback online and choose the best product for your particular need. For purchase decision and post-purchase evaluation, I feel like this segment focuses more on hoe the product works compared to how it is advertised. For example, if something says it will make your carpet 75% whiter and then the product doesn’t actually produce a visible change, that would affect future purchase decision and cause a negative post-purchase evaluation.