Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1

Sketching Out the Beginning of the Buyer Behavior Process

Problem: Video games and video gaming consoles come out too quickly for people to afford to purchase all the games and gaming systems that they want to try.

Segment: The segment that I picked was college students and young adults that want to buy gaming equipment and games but cannot afford to because of limited income.

The three people I interviewed: My first interview was a 21-year-old college student named Lauren.
My second interview was a 24-year-old graduate school student named Sharez.
My third interview was a 19-year-old college student named Jake.
All of the people I interviewed are college students and as a result, are interested in saving as much money as possible, but they also spend their free time playing video games and discussing those games with their friends.

Need Awareness Question List:
1. Is there a certain time of year that you most wish a service like this was available?
2. What situations make you wish you had access to this kind of service?
3. Are there any places or contexts that exacerbate your need for this type of service?

Information Search Question List:
1. When you come across this problem, where do you first try to find a solution?
2. What information sources do you look for to solve this problem?
3. What search terms do you use to solve this problem and what search terms would you use to find the service I offer?
4. Do you consult your friends or family when doing your research?

Interview summary:

1. Is there a certain time of year that you most wish a service like this was available?
The answers for this specific question varied and everyone gave different answers. One said they had this problem all the time, another said they did not experience this problem around the giving holidays (such as Christmas, their Birthday, and Black Friday), and the last said they only felt like they needed this service during the Nintendo release schedule, which varies every couple of months.

2. What situations make you wish you had access to this kind of service?
For this question, most of the people I interviewed said that they wished they had access to this service most when they were having conversations with friends about games that had come out but they could not afford to purchase. One of the people I interviewed said that they most wished for this service when they were being exposed to marketing campaigns that promoted games that looked cool but were expensive.

3. Are there any places or contexts that exacerbate your need for this type of service?
The answers to this question were varied. Two of the people I interviewed said that they were most aware of their need for this type of service on campus when attending gaming-related meetings. One of the people I interviewed said they felt like they needed this service during the times that they were home for vacation, such as over Winter and Summer break. Lastly, one person I interviewed stated they felt a stronger need for this service at video-game conventions and tournaments. Overall, it seemed like everyone listed places where other like-minded people would be around. It was interesting to hear that one of the reasons someone may want this service is because they have a lot of free time.


4. When you come across this problem, where do you first try to find a solution?
Everyone I interviewed stated that they would try to find a solution first by asking a friend or family member if they could borrow their system. When I followed-up on this answer, two out of the three said that this kind of borrowing system does not generally leave them satisfied because they do not have the freedom to use the game or gaming system when they want to. One of the people I interviewed said that they try to find a solution by looking for deals online, but this solution does not work for Nintendo games or game consoles because they do not ever give discounts on their products.

5. What information sources do you look for to solve this problem?
This question was confusing to one of the people I interviewed because they did not have an answer since they believed there was no easily solution and because of that they did not try to search for one. The other two said that they generally used word-of-mouth and the internet as a resource to try and solve the problem.

6. What search terms do you use to solve this problem and what search terms would you use to find the service I offer?
As stated before, one of the people I interviewed has never searched for a solution but I asked them anyway to come up with some example search terms for what they would use if they did try to find a solution.
Here is a list of all of the terms that the people I interviewed would use to solve the problem:
Cheap consoles, cheap games, discounted games, game playthrough, (brand) sale, twitch stream (game), full playthrough (game), giveaway (game), news (game), twitter (game), reddit thread (game), secondhand console, free console, craigslist, low cost (game or console)
Here is a list of all of the terms that the people I interviewed would use to find the service I offer (there is some overlap):
Cheap games, (game) rental, (console) rental, console swap, low cost (game or console), (brand) cheap, cheap playthrough, borrow (game or console), low price (game or console)

7. Do you consult your friends or family when doing your research?
Every person I interviewed said that they would consult their friends if they decided to conduct any research on finding a solution. Only one of the people I interviewed said they would talk to their family when doing their research. This may be because one is an only sibling and the other does not have any family members that play video games.

Draw conclusions:
The main thing that I learned from my interviews is that it may be difficult for people to find my service since a lot of the way people conduct their research is through word-of-mouth. Not many people look for a solution to this problem because they assume there is none. Additionally, there will likely always be a need for this service because just like finding the service, the need is created by word-of-mouth. When people talk to others about video games there is generally a lot of discussion about what games are good or bad and which games they want to purchase. While the news and release cycles can exacerbate this, it will be the opinions of friends, family, and the internet (Reddit, Facebook, Twitter) that push a consumer towards their decision to buy a product. Marketing this service will be very difficult but very important and it might be useful to take advantage of websites like Reddit or Twitter to do so since that is where many people get their gaming-related opinions.