15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

This week I investigated buyer behavior from the back end, for my product opportunity, smart home bundles.  What I really learned is how complex buyer behavior is, and how varied it can be. Each consumer is an individual, and has their own thoughts about how or what they should buy.  I am still investigating the working,  middle class segment of my opportunity.  This group is widely varied, and selling to them seems to mean that a something must meet all their expectations before purchase.  

            I interviewed three people that worked full time jobs, and considered themselves part of the middle class.  Overall, the most important thing to them seemed to be price and quality.  They wouldn’t buy something, no matter how nice it was, if they considered it overpriced. On the other hand, one interviewee told me that she was wary of prices that were “too good to be true”.  She considered products priced too low to be untrustworthy, and probably not worth buying.  When I asked whether they considered brand to play an important role in quality, I received a mixed response.  Two of my interviewees said that they felt like a brand name gave them a sense of security when buying a product or service.  While one of them said she very heavily relied on name recognition, the other said that she didn’t care what kind of brand, just as long as it was some kind, it was probably better.  My other interviewee seemed less interested in brand names when it came to quality, he thought quality had a lot to do with where the product was made.  He said that he would always pick a US product over a product made internationally.  When asked about aesthetic of the product, the response was generally the same.  All agreed that while style may not play a very direct role in their buying process, they are attracted to the best looking, best advertised product.  Style might not make them buy a product, but it could lead them to buying it.

            I then began asking them how they would go about buying smart home products.  Two said that they were more likely to buy online.  They cited the convenience, and the information available to them through this platform.  It especially seemed relevant to them that since smart home products work through network and electronic providers, that this information would be accurate (straight from the source).  There are reasons to shop in store though.  One interviewee told me she would probably go into Best Buy or an electronic store to see the products in person.  This made her more sure of what she was buying.  She felt that this resulted in her getting better deals and better quality.  Even if she didn’t buy the items in store, she was more sure of what she was looking at. She said that if she didn’t buy them in the store, she would probably end up buying online.  In most cases, interviewees said that they would buy such expensive items with debit or credit.  You can’t use cash online and a couple thought it unwise to walk around with so much.

            In general, my interviewees judged the “rightness” of their purchase on how well the product lived up to their expectations. I think that they all had ideas of what they would expect out of smart home products.  Mostly this seemed to be determined by how long the device worked, how intuitive it was, and how often they ended up using it.  One said that they didn’t consider it a good purchase if they didn’t use it or think about it at least weekly.  One stated that if the product didn’t last a couple years he would be disappointed.  Overall, as long as the quality of the product held up to the price paid, they considered it a good purchase.

            This segment is well informed.  To buy something large, like a smart home product, all my interviewees went through some kind of a research process.  They are on the hunt for good deals on these products, because price is one of the two largest influence on this segment’s buyer behavior.  They also want to make sure their money is well spent, they aren’t likely to spend money on something that isn’t quality.  Of all the influences, I think quality influences buyer behavior the most in this segment.  Most of the actual transactions take place online, with stores being used more as showrooms for the products than actual distributors.  Since expectations for quality are so high, these products either make or break dependent upon how well they work.