15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interview 1: Kim G.

Summary:

Kim will read articles reviewing and comparing products in the same class before making the purchase. Purchases are usually online and with a debit card. Usually eBay.

Condensed transcript

How do you evaluate alternatives?

I go online to eBay to check out things. Sometimes I’ll google articles that review similar products. Do you read Amazon reviews before buying? No. Never. I just read those articles that compare the products for me. 

How do you make the purchase?

Card. Online always. Unless I’m in dire need then I’ll head to the store.  It’s hardly ever that we buy what we need at stores anymore. Except groceries, of course.

What matters most in the post-purchase evaluation?

That I got the best price I could. There’s a lot of buying I do that I tell myself “I shouldn’t have done that.” Mainly for things we don’t really need.

Interview 2: Rod H.

Summary:

Rod looks at quality, price, then country of origin when buying. Tends towards online buying. Tends to evaluate more expensive purchases rather than everything he buys.

Condensed transcript

How do you evaluate alternatives?

Î look at cost versus quality. Is there one aspect more important than the other? Quality. And then I’m also looking at where it was manufactured. That has a lot to do with my purchase decision. Country of origin is important to the quality of the product.

How do you make the purchase?

Credit card and online anymore. I don’t go to the stores unless I really need it right away nowadays. 

What matters most in the post-purchase evaluation?

This is more of an issue on higher ticket items. I hardly fret over the less expensive things that I buy in this regard. For cars, houses, property, and other expensive purchases, cost is always a factor in the evaluation. Did I pay too much? Was it worth what I put into it? Those are some of the things I’m asking myself.

Interview 3: Dan G.

Summary:

Dan looks at price and longevity and sometimes considers brand of the item. He has his wife actually make the purchase, usually online. He looks at longevity of the item when considering if it was a good purchase.

Condensed transcript

How do you evaluate alternatives?

Well, price has a lot to do with it, I guess.But also product as in, sometimes name brand has a lot to do with it, but not anymore. At least not always. How willing are you to try an off brand? Depends on the product and price. Food, I’ll try it. Tools, you might need to go with the name brand. Sometimes you’ll need to buy two off brand in order to get the value of one name brand item.

How do you make the purchase? I’ll tell my wife to jump online and make the purchase. I just find what it is we need and she’ll do the legwork of finding the best place to buy. She usually feels safe using PayPal because they tend to keep the buyer safe. 

What matters most in the post-purchase evaluation?

Nine times out of ten what I’m buying is a tool and as long as its lasting me a good while I’m happy with it. So I guess longevity of the item is really important to how I evaluate the purchase decision. 

Conclusion

People word incredibly hard for their money. Running the risk of rabbit trailing here, I’ll simply say that this is a statement of fact that many young people fail to understand. 

As a result, people want value for their dollars. That’s not to say they are greedy. But that every time they fork over their hard won money, they want to know that it will last, is of good quality, and they want to feel like they made a good decisions. 

It seems that buyers are afraid of being in a position where cognitive dissonance is eating away at their conscience, particularly for an expensive purchase.

One interesting point I learned about this segment is that most of these buyers did not articulate word of mouth recommendations when evaluating alternatives. It seems that this segment is confident in finding the right items buy doing searches online for their needs.