12A- Figuring out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Figuring out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: The segment of my market that I am focusing on is male UF students aged 18-22 years old who live on or near campus and who are taking classes on campus at least three times a week. The reason I am choosing this segment is because I am curious to see whether males my age also have the unmet need regarding healthy food options. This is also because I personally feel females are more keen to eat healthier foods, and therefore I want to test this segment to further push the boundaries of my business venture.

Interview Questions:

1)      Do you ever feel UF has inadequate options for healthy foods on campus, or do you feel there is sufficient healthy options as on campus as it currently stands?

If they answer that there is indeed a lack of healthy food options on campus, then move on to the remainder of the questions:

2)      How old are you?

3)      Are you currently enrolled in UF full time or part time?

4)      Do you take classes on campus at least 3 times a week?

5)      At what time do you find yourself wanting a healthy meal on campus the most? Morning, Mid-Day, or Afternoon?

6)      Do you usually bring your own food to campus, or do you often eat out?

7)      When you do eat on campus, do you eat by yourself or with others?

8)      As of right now, what are the most common restaurants on campus that you eat at?

9)      If there was a new restaurant, similar in price and quality to Chipotle, but way healthier, could you see yourself eating there more than the other restaurants?

10)   Do you often find yourself eating on campus between breaks in classes, after being on campus for a long time, or simply because you happen to be hungry?

11)   Do you see any commonalities between the days you do happen to eat on campus? Is it something you do on particular days, for certain reasons, etc?

12)   When you are sure that you plan on eating out on campus, how do you decide where you are going to eat?

13)   Do you look up on-campus dining on your phone, do you simply have the restaurants committed to memory?

14)   Do you ever find yourself asking friends or family about good restaurant options on campus? If yes, how often?

15)   If you eat with others, are they usually the ones that decide where to eat? How do they decide where they want to go?

Summary: In all three interviews, I have found that my prototypical customer is most likely to eat at my restaurant between lunch and dinner, roughly between 12 PM and 6 PM. The tricky part about the need awareness portion of the interview is simply that people realize they’re hungry, simply when they get hungry. However, I was able to pinpoint some trends between the three interviews and when they would be most likely to eat at my restaurant. For example, all three of my interviewees said they often find themselves eating on campus when they have small breaks in between classes or other daily routines. In addition to this, all three of them also said they have specific days in which they know they will be eating out. My first interviewee said that he eats on campus every Tuesday between his two classes. My second interviewee said he eats out every Thursday between class and volunteering. Although need awareness isn’t super helpful when discussing my business venture because my prototypical customers simply notice their need exists when they get hungry, it was interesting that they do have a routine of when this opportunity exists. I believe the information search aspect of these interviews was a little bit more helpful, as I learned exactly HOW these prototypical customers decide where they want to eat. I get a mix of answers ranging from google searches about food on campus, to simply knowing what there is to eat on campus through memory, and finally by letting their friends or family decide where they are going to eat. This was valuable information for my business venture, because it showed me that if I can successfully get my restaurant out there to the public via Google and other search engines, in addition to word of mouth, I could make my restaurant a staple on UF campus relatively easily.

Conclusion: This segment was interesting to me because I wasn’t expecting them to have a “pattern” of when they decide to eat out on campus, but all three of my interviewees did. I found this interesting simply because I don’t do this, and when I picked my three interviewees for this segment, I was expecting them to behave a little bit more like me than they do. Other than need awareness, I found information search to be pretty much what I was expecting it to be, heavy reliance on Google and Word-of-Mouth when they were deciding where it was, they would choose to eat. However, I don’t necessarily think this is a result from this exact segment per say, as I feel almost everyone relies on Google or Word of Mouth when deciding where to eat, regardless of age, race, gender, etc.