1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. For the interviews, I sat down with a 27 year old woman who has been vegan for 10 months, an 18 year old woman who has been vegan for 4 months, and a 21 year old man who has been vegan for 1 month.
2) Begin with alternative evaluation. In the last case exercise, you determined how customers sought information related to solving their need. The outcome of this step is to produce a set of alternatives. Customers pick from among this set of alternatives. In this step, your job is to figure out how they do their picking. Does price matter the most? Does quality? Does style? Is there more than one factor that is important to your customer segment? The set of alternatives include a mobile app called Is It Vegan?, a vegan blog by Peta called Accidentally Vegan Snack List, and Google search results. All options are free, with the exception of the app offering a premium version. The 27 year old woman frequently uses the app. While there is a premium version listed for $4.99, she thinks that is too expensive and uses the free version, but complains it is glitchy and has too many adds. Both price and quality matter to her. The 18 year old woman uses a combination of Peta's blog and Google search. She says price is the most important thing for her. The 21 year old man uses Google search to find out if a product is vegan. He says the most important thing for him is speed and accuracy. He's tried the other alternatives, but he thinks the app is too unreliable and the Peta blog isn't updated enough.
3) How/where do they buy? Elements of the actual transaction can help characterize your segment. Is your segment more likely to buy online or in a store? Are they more likely to use cash or will they finance the purchase? This segment is most likely to buy in a store, but with a recent increase in grocery delivery services and online markets, more may be inclined to buy online. As food is a daily necessity, it typically falls under routine problem solving and does not require much evaluation for each purchase. They are most likely to use cash or a credit card to make the purchase. My mobile app would be used during the actual grocery shopping, but may be used before entering the store if they want knowledge of a product or promotion beforehand. For the alternative options, the same can be said, though they might be more likely to use Peta's blog before the actual shopping so that they can plan their meals ahead of time. When using the alternative options, all 3 people reported using their mobile phones most of the time, even when at home where a computer is available.
4) Post-purchase evaluation. What matters most to your customers when they think back on the 'rightness' of the purchase? What helps them determine the purchase was a good idea? What sorts of things make them think a purchase was a bad idea? For the 27 year old woman, what matters most to her is that she is able to get what she sets out for. In this specific case, she wants a clear answer to if a product is vegan. If a product does what is says it will do, that's when she determines the purchase was good. If the product does not live up to its expectations, then it was a bad purchase. For the 18 year old woman, what matters most is that a purchase fulfills a need. If after the purchase she feels her life has been made easier or a need is currently satisfied, then the purchase was good. If after the purchase the product has not aided in her life or is not as beneficial as she expected, then it was a bad purchase. For the 21 year old man, what matters most is ease of use and efficiency. If a product does not require much thought or adjustment to integrate into his life, the purchase was good. If he spends too much time trying to figure out how to use it or if the process takes longer than without it, it is a bad purchase.
5) Report the findings. Simply summarize your interviews. In the interview with the 27 year old woman, I learned the importance of offering a free or low cost product. The fact that she is willing to tolerate a subpar version of a product just because it is free is very telling and can help me determine the pricing of my app. In the interview with the 18 year old woman, I was reminded of the importance of fulfilling a need and not overselling my app. I will have to be sure that this app is actually assisting in making a better grocery shopping experience if I want it to be successful. In the interview with the 21 year old man, I learned how truly valuable time is to these costumers. My app needs to produce a clear answer to if a product is vegan faster than if they were to use Google to search for the answer themselves.
6) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation? In terms of alternative evaluation, this segment cares more for a product/ service that is efficient and free. When making the purchasing decision, this segment wants something that is compatible with their mobile phones and assists in the actual grocery shopping experience. If a product lives up to expectations, is easy to use, and actually improves their life in some way, they will be happy with their purchase.
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