When interviewing to learn about buyer behavior. I interviewed three working individuals, who either do not yet have children or their children have already moved out, and own at least one dog.
One of my interviewees has a new puppy and she immediately became aware of the need for day-care for her dog when she realized going home from work on her lunch-hour was not going to be feasible every day. She also realized that by the time she realized she needed a dog-walker one day, it was too late to hire someone. She asked employees and dog-trainers at her local pet store for recommendations and also says she has spent at least an hour online every day since getting her puppy, researching care.
Another interviewee's husband recently re-located for work temporarily and her daughter does not live at home anymore. She has two adult dogs, but now that she is the only one home to care for them, she realizes the need for additional care when she has to stay late at work or wants to go somewhere after work. She also travels on weekend trips and her daughter is not always available to dog-sit. She relies the most heavily of personal recommendations form friends, but prefers to get information about businesses and services online, rather than having to call.
My third interviewee has a 6-month-old puppy and an adult dog. When she first adopted the puppy, her teenage son was on summer break, but now that he is back in school, her puppy has to stay crated all day. She prefers to call and ask businesses question as well as visiting establishments before signing up for any service. She also asks her fellow dog-owning friends for recommendations when she needs a new service for her dogs, but then calls to ask any questions she has that are specific to her needs.
All three individuals do most of their research online and will read reviews through Google, yelp, Angie's List, etc.They will also read reviews from the company's website, but feel the bad reviews are intentionally excluded. Two out of three that I interviewed much prefer recommendations from people they know, but will still read reviews to get a better idea of the average experience. Two out of three also specifically mentioned they like to look for the worst reviews to get an idea of the worst-case scenario. Their searches are specific to location (i.e. "dog walker in Winter Park, FL" or "best veterinarian in Clermont, Florida").
In terms of information search, my service needs to have plenty of information on a website, perhaps including an FAQ section. I would also encourage current clients to share their experiences online, both on our website and also through a third-party review-site.
Victoria, I think that you got some great feedback with assignment 12. I think you discovered a big idea in that people prefer to have recommendations from friends. I know if I’m looking for a service, the first people I ask are friends. We tend to trust our friends the most so I you are able to use word of mouth to get new business, I think that a lot of people would use your service.
ReplyDeleteI think that figuring out how your clients hear about your business is a great way to see where to focus one’s marketing on. As you discovered, individuals are more likely to believe information they receive from people they trust such as their friends or family rather than the internet since there’s so much information on the internet. Individuals may feel overwhelmed and sometimes confused by the information they find online.
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