12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

SEGMENT: For my segment I chose to target colleges University of Florida and University of South Florida, because all these institutes haven’t catered well to student’s health needs.

Interview Summaries: My main targets were college students and staff members. After conducting my interview sessions with all three members, I was able to gain a better understanding of customers criteria when it comes to purchasing a product or service  and based on the feedback I received I do think there is potential in my idea. When it comes to buying food, students I interviewed look at the nutritional info of it first. Since most kids don’t have time to cook or meal prep for themselves and with such hectic schedules it might be the only meal/snack before they head home. So, it’s important or them to see if their nutritional needs are being met before purchasing anything. Second thing I learnt was that most students are either broke or on  a strict budget and hence cant really afford to have meals from outside every single day so either they pack up their snacks from home like fruit, nuts, tuna cans,  which are purchased from superstores like Publix at like Buy one get free deals which is a pretty good value for their money. On days where they get nothing from home because they were in a rush or were about to miss the bus and just had to get to class then their next best alternatives are the vending machines which are conveniently placed in every floor on campus buildings. While its easily accessible and convenient the major problem are the items placed inside. Also students dont like waiting in long lines to place and then wait for their order. For one student it took about 30 minutes for her order to be prepared at Panda Express. Even though the vending machines do have some healthy options like protein bar, granola bar those items are priced higher which makes them look less appealing and hence students turn to other unhealthy options. One bar of granola is for $2.5 but the entire box can be purchased for almost $4.00. When they become aware of this need, they do discuss it with their friends at different colleges to identify if they have the same problem. None of my participants conducted google search on the problem because they felt it was out of their reach and could only be solved by the school’s staff and faculty department. One of the participants had taken this matter to a faculty member to figure out a solution to the problem but she wasn’t given a satisfactory answer so eventually she forgot about it. So now she makes sure to pack up her meals and snack the night before incase she forgets.

Conclusion: This segment went exactly as I hoped it would. My interviewees and I agreed on the fact that how important it is for colleges to promote a healthier environment by having vending machines stocked with healthier items. The reason there’s this still unmet need is because of lack of motivation and how we think this is something the college faculty should be responsible for. Its important to come up with an organized and innovative plan and systematized plan and draft a proposal for it which can later be presented to interesting parties who are willing to help invest in this idea.