12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior, No.1
Segment:
My target segment is females who are between the ages of 18 and 25.
Interview 1: My roommate who is a sophomore, 20 years old
I decided that a great place to start off would be with my roommate who is a 20-year-old female and has very similar tastes and preferences as me. For her, she says that she absolutely can't stand the paper straws that she is given in Gainesville. Therefore, she tells me that she will gladly pay for a reusable, retractable straw that she can take with her anywhere because she really hates the paper ones. Since plastic straws are banned, she has no other option. She finds that she wishes she had a different straw whenever she goes out to eat and the only straws available are paper ones. Specifically, she really hates how the paper straws break when she uses them for over 5 minutes, and she then has to go get a new straw because the old one is no good. When she becomes aware of her need, the first thing she does is go get a new straw. This is because she is typically at a restaurant or out eating and all they have to offer is more paper straws, which she hates. She looked on Google and did her research to see if plastic straws were banned everywhere or if the ban was just in Gainesville. To her surprise, there are a few other small towns with this plastic straw ban, but the big cities have not hopped onto the movement. She says that she asked her parents, who live in North Carolina, what they think about paper straws. Fortunately, they have never had to use paper straws because plastic straws are still permitted in their town.
Interview 2: My friend who is a Freshman, 19 years old
For the next interview, I sat down with my good friend who I figured would be a great person to talk to. Whenever I go over her house, she is always using a reusable metal straw that she purchased a while ago. She cleans it and uses it pretty much every day, and she is extremely environmentally friendly in all that she does. For her, the need for this rubber, reusable and retractable straw definitely exists. She is extremely environmentally friendly with all of her decisions. Although she uses a metal straw, she says that it is a very hard texture and she sometimes hurts her teeth on it. It is also very annoying to wash because it is so stiff. She says that she wishes she has a softer reusable straw to use that was not plastic and one that she could actually take out with her. The reason she does not bring the metal straw out is that it is so big and does not fit anywhere. Specifically, her need for my opportunity arises whenever she realizes the discomfort of having this metal straw. Although very sporadic, she admits that at times she does find herself having this need. Typically, her first plan of action when she realizes this is to put the metal straw in her sink and just drink out of the cup. She gets frustrated with the straw, and it usually happens at home since she does not take the straw out with her. Additionally, she tells me how she searched up rubber straws for purchase and did not actually go through with the purchase because of how expensive they were. This is a huge advantage of my retractable straw. It not only seems to perfectly fit the needs of my friend, but it also will be extremely cost-efficient, allowing pretty much anyone to buy it. I will make sure that the price is fair so that college students on a budget can purchase the straws without hesitation.
Interview 3: My older sister who is a Junior, 21 years old
Finally, I thought it would be very interesting to interview my sister for a variety of reasons. First, we both grew up using plastic straws every night for dinner. We would also dispose of them after each use, and although they were not expensive, we must have used tons of plastic throughout our childhood. I wanted to see how my sister's habits had changed after moving out of our house and living on her own in college. For my sister, she says that she definitely sees how this straw could be of use, but she does not see it as a dire need. The circumstances she finds herself in when she realizes that this is a need of hers is when she goes out to eat and the paper straw she was given completely rips in half. When this happens, she immediately wishes that she had a plastic straw. Upon realization that this is not possible, she says that she wishes she had brought a reusable metal or plastic straw from home because her roommates have a bunch of them. One instance, she tells me that she remembers going home and actually asking her roommates where they bought their flimsy rubber reusable straws. She says that she wouldn't personally buy those because they take up so much space, which is where I then saw my opportunity become more clear. Overall, my sister grew up using plastic straws her whole life. She has always cared about the environment but has never thought to spend money on a reusable, retractable straw. The fact that I brought this up in the first place made her more interested in buying one, and she says that if she had one she would definitely use it very often.
Summary: Overall, I learned how successful my opportunity could be within my identified target segment. I believe that the segment I have chosen would be where the bulk of my business would come from. Unfortunately, after understanding the extent of the need from my interview subjects, I fear that this may not be such a dire need for people who fall outside of my boundaries. I know there would be a sporadic spread of people who have this need randomly throughout different target segments, but I think that for the most part it is not something that so many people are dying to have. This may be because there are a lot of alternatives for plastic and paper straws that are already available.
Conclusion: This segment in specific I would describe as the ideal candidate for my opportunity. The people who fall into this category, for the most part, all have similar demographics and preferences. They also have very similar opinions about the environment and about what they can do as individuals that will ultimately go on to help the planet. They are definitely aware of the need for the complete elimination of plastic straws, but they do not know to what extent they are willing to go in order to fulfill this need. Some don't want to spend the money and others just have other priorities which have distracted them from this problem of plastic and paper straws.
My target segment is females who are between the ages of 18 and 25.
Interview 1: My roommate who is a sophomore, 20 years old
I decided that a great place to start off would be with my roommate who is a 20-year-old female and has very similar tastes and preferences as me. For her, she says that she absolutely can't stand the paper straws that she is given in Gainesville. Therefore, she tells me that she will gladly pay for a reusable, retractable straw that she can take with her anywhere because she really hates the paper ones. Since plastic straws are banned, she has no other option. She finds that she wishes she had a different straw whenever she goes out to eat and the only straws available are paper ones. Specifically, she really hates how the paper straws break when she uses them for over 5 minutes, and she then has to go get a new straw because the old one is no good. When she becomes aware of her need, the first thing she does is go get a new straw. This is because she is typically at a restaurant or out eating and all they have to offer is more paper straws, which she hates. She looked on Google and did her research to see if plastic straws were banned everywhere or if the ban was just in Gainesville. To her surprise, there are a few other small towns with this plastic straw ban, but the big cities have not hopped onto the movement. She says that she asked her parents, who live in North Carolina, what they think about paper straws. Fortunately, they have never had to use paper straws because plastic straws are still permitted in their town.
Interview 2: My friend who is a Freshman, 19 years old
For the next interview, I sat down with my good friend who I figured would be a great person to talk to. Whenever I go over her house, she is always using a reusable metal straw that she purchased a while ago. She cleans it and uses it pretty much every day, and she is extremely environmentally friendly in all that she does. For her, the need for this rubber, reusable and retractable straw definitely exists. She is extremely environmentally friendly with all of her decisions. Although she uses a metal straw, she says that it is a very hard texture and she sometimes hurts her teeth on it. It is also very annoying to wash because it is so stiff. She says that she wishes she has a softer reusable straw to use that was not plastic and one that she could actually take out with her. The reason she does not bring the metal straw out is that it is so big and does not fit anywhere. Specifically, her need for my opportunity arises whenever she realizes the discomfort of having this metal straw. Although very sporadic, she admits that at times she does find herself having this need. Typically, her first plan of action when she realizes this is to put the metal straw in her sink and just drink out of the cup. She gets frustrated with the straw, and it usually happens at home since she does not take the straw out with her. Additionally, she tells me how she searched up rubber straws for purchase and did not actually go through with the purchase because of how expensive they were. This is a huge advantage of my retractable straw. It not only seems to perfectly fit the needs of my friend, but it also will be extremely cost-efficient, allowing pretty much anyone to buy it. I will make sure that the price is fair so that college students on a budget can purchase the straws without hesitation.
Interview 3: My older sister who is a Junior, 21 years old
Finally, I thought it would be very interesting to interview my sister for a variety of reasons. First, we both grew up using plastic straws every night for dinner. We would also dispose of them after each use, and although they were not expensive, we must have used tons of plastic throughout our childhood. I wanted to see how my sister's habits had changed after moving out of our house and living on her own in college. For my sister, she says that she definitely sees how this straw could be of use, but she does not see it as a dire need. The circumstances she finds herself in when she realizes that this is a need of hers is when she goes out to eat and the paper straw she was given completely rips in half. When this happens, she immediately wishes that she had a plastic straw. Upon realization that this is not possible, she says that she wishes she had brought a reusable metal or plastic straw from home because her roommates have a bunch of them. One instance, she tells me that she remembers going home and actually asking her roommates where they bought their flimsy rubber reusable straws. She says that she wouldn't personally buy those because they take up so much space, which is where I then saw my opportunity become more clear. Overall, my sister grew up using plastic straws her whole life. She has always cared about the environment but has never thought to spend money on a reusable, retractable straw. The fact that I brought this up in the first place made her more interested in buying one, and she says that if she had one she would definitely use it very often.
Summary: Overall, I learned how successful my opportunity could be within my identified target segment. I believe that the segment I have chosen would be where the bulk of my business would come from. Unfortunately, after understanding the extent of the need from my interview subjects, I fear that this may not be such a dire need for people who fall outside of my boundaries. I know there would be a sporadic spread of people who have this need randomly throughout different target segments, but I think that for the most part it is not something that so many people are dying to have. This may be because there are a lot of alternatives for plastic and paper straws that are already available.
Conclusion: This segment in specific I would describe as the ideal candidate for my opportunity. The people who fall into this category, for the most part, all have similar demographics and preferences. They also have very similar opinions about the environment and about what they can do as individuals that will ultimately go on to help the planet. They are definitely aware of the need for the complete elimination of plastic straws, but they do not know to what extent they are willing to go in order to fulfill this need. Some don't want to spend the money and others just have other priorities which have distracted them from this problem of plastic and paper straws.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Beca,
ReplyDeleteGood job on identifying a narrow segment to interview. I too assume this project to have a female connotation, but I'm not sure why. What makes environmentally friendly utensils feminine? Perhaps you could explore options that appeal to the males. I think packaging and effective marketing is what could address this issue. Also addressing the issue of people not wanting to spend money-- if these items are mass produced, I bet they could be sold at a low price!