12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 

1) Segment I chose: Drivers (age 16+)

2) Three people chosen:

A) Roommate (College student 19 y/o)

B) Professor (Adult 43 y/o)

C) Uber driver (around 20-25 y/o)

3) Beginning with need awareness:

When asking the three subjects about when, where, and how their need awareness occurs, I found that my opportunity is truly spontaneous. Obviously, when you lose your keys, you only realize your need is apparent when you need to leave and go somewhere. Since my opportunity is tracking your lost keys with an easy-to-use app, need awareness only becomes evident when the users have misplaced or lost their keys. The good thing about my concept is that it practically resolves the unmet need before it even happens, because when users are a certain distance away from their valuables, they will receive a notification. Basically, my interviewees need is most salient when they realize they’ve lost their keys, and have something urgent to attend.

4) Moving to information search: When the person you are interviewing becomes aware of their need, what is the very first thing they do to find a solution to their problem? What sources of information do they look for? When they search in Google, what are their search terms? Do they talk to friends and family.

When the people I interviewed become aware of their need, they first told me that they panic. Losing your valuables, especially keys, causes your eyes to go wide and immediately worry about where they could possibly be. They all told me that the first thing they would do when they are aware of their need is retrace their steps- a pretty logical solution to losing your keys. They also said that they would search places where they usually kept their keys or valuables, and if they still can’t find them, they would either ask family/ friends if they’ve seen them, or call the last place they were when they know for a fact they were in possession of them.

6) Drawing conclusions:

Based on my segment, which was drivers (age 16+), I would say that their need awareness and information search is pretty simple. My idea is not something that happens all the time, but when it does occur, they feel sick to their stomach! The fact that others could be in possession of their valuables makes people go into panic mode, especially when they have urgent things to do. My interviewees also stated that my opportunity has been filled by Tile, but the features I add gives me an opportunity to compete with them, which really boosted my spirits. Ultimately, the segment i chose provided me with critical information about their need awareness and information search whenever they lose their keys/ valuables.