Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Part 2

Interview number one: Bryce, 19-year-old male:
When evaluating alternatives, Bryce seeks to find the best compromise between quality and price, but it depends on the type of product.  For a product that he plans to use for a long time, he is willing to pay a premium to get a well-made product that he can depend on.  For a product like my premium padded seat covers, he would first look for any options that would look good in his car.  Then, out of these options, he would choose the cheapest one that is still made of good materials and has good customer reviews.  Once he is ready to make the purchase, he would most likely pay the full amount with a credit card online.  He would prefer to buy the product from Amazon since he gets Prime shipping and 5% cash-back on his Prime card.  When evaluating the product post-purchase, the most important thing to him is that it works as advertised, and continues to do so.  If the product does not work well, he will return it if possible or write a bad review if not.  As long as the product does satisfy him, he will not regret the purchase.

Interview number two: Haley, 22-year-old female: When evaluating alternatives, Haley also said that she looks for the best balance between quality and price.  She has to be careful with her money since she is a full-time student, so she typically will not buy the most expensive option.  At the same time, she is wary of buying the cheapest option in case it fails or disappoints her because then she feels like her money was wasted and she would have been better off spending more to get a quality item.  With a product like mine, she would seek out the cheapest option that still has offers high enough quality for her to have peace of mind about the purchase.  Haley typically prefers to buy products online, mainly from Amazon since she is also a Prime member.  The exception is for something like clothes, where she likes to ensure that they fit properly by trying them on.  She also prefers to buy expensive items, like electronics, in person since she is afraid of them being damaged during transport.  For a product like mine, she would buy online since she can measure her seat to make sure they are the right size, and because she would like to take advantage of the customization options to create her own unique seat covers.  She regards a purchase as a good idea if she uses the product fairly often, and if its performance meets her expectations.  She regards a purchase as a bad idea if it ends up collecting dust, if it drains her bank account too low, or if it breaks/performs poorly.

Interview number three: Stephanie, 73-year-old female:  When evaluating alternatives, Stephanie typically tries to find the cheapest option, and she often waits for a product to go on-sale so that she gets the best deal possible.  When shopping, she sometimes purchases a product that she was not planning to buy because she sees a great deal on it.  With clothing, style matters, but with a product like mine, she would just go for the cheapest option.  She only likes to shop in stores, since she does not own a computer.  Not only that, but shopping is a fun pastime for her, and she often will invite her friends to go along with her.  She likes to buy a lot of gifts, and in that instance, she considers the purchase a good decision based on how the person she gave the gift to reacts, and how much she sees them using her gift.  For personal purchases, she usually considers her purchase a good decision as long as the product does what she needs.

In terms of alternative evaluation, this segments seeks out products that provide good quality at a low price.  During the purchase decision, some people in the segment shop online, while others look in-store.  All three people I interviewed would pay for their purchases in-full upfront.  For their post-purchase evaluation, the people in the segment primarily assess if the product performs as desired,