Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Pick a Segment

I chose the segment of University of Florida students who own cars and live on campus. One person I interviewed was a freshman male who studies Biology and lives in Broward. Another interviewee was a sophomore female who studies education and lives in Keys. The last interviewee was a male sophomore who lives in Beaty Towers and studies pre-vet.

                                                                                                      
Interviews

·      My first interviewee (freshman male) explained to me just how much a problem parking was at the University of Florida. He tends to avoid moving his car just because of the fear of not finding another spot. The interviewee stated that sometimes when he has to travel off campus or when he goes home for a weekend, he returns back to his dorm and there are no spots open. He states he faces the problem of finding a parking spot explicitly during the busier class times (9:30 am- 3:00 pm) Monday through Thursday. In addition, he explains that he experiences it Friday and Saturday night as well. The interviewee continues on to say that Friday night when the decals lift until Monday, it is very hard for him to find a parking spot because a lot of people who do not have decals or do not live on campus will park in spots that he would normally park in with his decal. When asked what his solution is to the difficulty of finding a spot, he replies that he tries to avoid moving his car at these specific times or if he has to drive, he will circle different parking lots/parking garages to find an open spot.

·      The second interview (sophomore female) also faces the problem of finding a parking spot on campus. She identified she faced this problem mostly on the weekends, especially when there is a football game. She states that when decal parking lots are lifted for the weekends it can be very difficult to find a spot Friday and Saturday night. The interviewee goes on to say that she loves the football games, but it does bring a lot of people to UF, who tend to park in spots that she would normally park in. In addition, when there is a football game, UF makes a lot of students with decals in specific parking lots move their cars to allow more spaces for guests, creating more people in an even more limited amount of parking. The sophomore explains that she had her car on campus her freshman year too, and faced the same problems. Her current solution to this issue is that she tries to drive early on the morning on the weekends when she has to run errands so she can return early when most students are still sleeping. She also tries to avoid moving her car during the week past the decal hours.

·      The last interviewee (sophomore male) states he has faced the issue of parking a lot as he has had his car on campus his freshman year too. When asked when he experiences the problem, he responded similarly to the other interviewees as he exclaimed that Friday nights are the worst. He explained that a lot of people go out on Friday nights near the University of Florida and park in the many lots around campus since the decals are lifted for the weekend. He explained that he has made the mistake many times of driving off campus for a Friday night and returning back to his dorm with not a single empty parking spot. At this point, he is forced to check the other parking lots and parking garages nearby and walk back to his dorm. He also explains that it is difficult to park when there are football games. He explains that during the week the still problem is still prominent, especially during the busy times but it is definitely a much bigger issue on the weekends. Currently, he addresses the problem by avoiding driving Friday nights and when he does drive during a busy time, he calls his friend and asks him to go check if there are empty spots outside their dorm.

What I Learned
Through the interviews, I learned that the demand for individuals to benefit from this product and utilize it was very high in the university atmosphere. It is definitely higher during certain times of the day and the week. I learned that the weekends, especially weekends that involve significant events like football games, increase the prominence of this issue. Many of the interviewees said they were not satisfied with their current solution as it could be time consuming to look for a spot, a pain to walk back from their spot if it ends up being farther away, and an annoyance as they feel like they have to wait to drive off campus during certain times of the week or day. When the interviewees are experiencing the issue, they try to gain their information about open parking spots by observing many of the parking lots before entering or by asking friends to let them know if there are any open spots. They explain that they have faced this problem more at a large university than they had previously in their lives, but know that many of their friends and family also face this issue when in places with a large amount of traffic.

Describing the Segment

This segment is aware of the problem as they have to experience it frequently and find their own solutions to the issue. Many are informed as to why they have the problem, but feel that parking will always be an issue at a large university with limited parking. They all love the product and feel that it would save them a lot of time when parking and would allow them to drive safer while in a parking lot or parking garage.