Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment:

The segment I will be using is University students who actively use the two popular libraries on campus: Library West and Marston. These students are young adults that require a quiet, focus-friendly environment to complete their work and study for exams.

Interviews:

For the interviews I conducted, I chose three individuals that fit the segment perfectly. The first individual was a classmate of mine, the second was a friend, and the third was a random individual that I stopped on campus. All three of them are University students in their third year, and all three of them had difficult majors that required a lot of time to be spent on studying and being productive. They preferred to finish this work on campus in the library, due to their increased ability to focus as well as the library location’s convenience. Finally, they all shared the unmet need of frequently not being able to find enough space in the library.

            I found that in all three interviews, there was a similar observation regarding the times in which the need was the most salient. It seemed as though mid-day there were more people at the library, and during weeks where many people had exams (like finals week), the library was likely to be packed throughout the whole day for many days at a time.  My friend in particular noted that he became the most frustrated during the day when he would drive to the library on his scooter and notice that the scooter parking was completely full. To him that was a clear indication that he would be wasting much of his time just finding a seat. Both the random individual I interviewed and the classmate of mine said they were more inclined to visit the library early in the mornings or late at night in order to get more room, however it is extremely inconvenient and at times not possible when they had other commitments.

            For more information about finding a solution to the need, my classmate messages her friends and asks them to scope out the library to see if there is room. This way, she can spend less time searching and more time doing work at home or finishing other tasks for the day. The random student I spoke to chooses to search for a solution by locating other places to study, however she prefers them much less. My friend will ask his other friends to save him a spot at the library, however there are still many times where this doesn’t workout and he is forced to search himself.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is apparent that this need does not only just exist, but it serves as a major obstacle for university students who are trying to excel. Additionally, it seems as though there are many similarities between the way that this issue impacts people, regarding the times that it is the most salient and the solutions individuals seek. Exam week seems to be the worst time to find a space, as well as during mid-day. Also, the solution that people seek out is an alternative location, or a time-saving way of finding a space. This is an observation I have noticed since my first few interviews about this topic, and it seems to be a very obvious pattern.