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Assignment 12: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Choosing a segment: For this assignment, I chose my largest, easiest to access segment. This is the segment of ordinary consumers who are beauty and makeup enthusiasts. I spoke to a few of my friends who are really into makeup, all women in their early 20s. I feel like the hotel/Airbnb manager segment is one I have nailed down, but I think I really need to understand the majority of my customers before proceeding. After all, by targeting these managers, they are targeting these same consumers as well. Thus, understanding regular makeup enthusiasts who are interested in this product is crucial to my business' success.

Need awareness: All three agreed that the need is most prevalent in hotel rooms. They said they've never been to a hotel with the proper lighting for makeup application. One interviewee said that she packs a portable mirror when she travels so she can do her makeup sitting in front of the hotel room window. This piece of information is good for me because the consumer is already going the extra mile to meet their own need. My product would likely be a welcome solution.

Two of the interviewees said that they had sufficient lighting in their bathrooms, so it wasn't really a need at home. One, however, said that her bathroom had poor window lighting and often goes into her parents' bathroom to do her makeup since it is well-lit. This creates problems for her when one of her parents is using the bathroom and she either has to manage in her own bathroom or wait for them to get out.

Interestingly, one of the two who has sufficient lighting said that the problem occurs for her at night, when there is no daylight to fill the bathroom. This interviewee enjoys nightlife and clubbing, so she is often doing her makeup at night. She jokingly said that no one can really see your makeup in the club anyway, but that she has been embarrassed by pictures that surfaced the morning after.

Information search: I found that this isn't really a problem that requires information search, which makes it the perfect problem. I've found that the problems in my life that most needed solving were not ones that I was frantically trying to solve, but the ones that I was unconsciously going out of my way to work around. The interviewees all said that the only solution to the problem is to move somewhere else to do their makeup and that they didn't really think about searching for alternatives.

Summary: My findings indicate that my target market is most aware of the problem in travel situations and in their homes specifically at night if they do not have the problem during the day. This tells me that I am right to target hotel and Airbnb owners as well as regular makeup consumers. However, this also tells me that it will be harder to market to the regular consumer than the owners because they have different reasons for the problem. Owners all have the same reason for the need. This means that I will have to be mindful of customers with many different reasons for buying going forward.

Conclusion: I would describe this segment as makeup enthusiasts who spend much of their discretionary income on beauty and beauty tools. They are aware of the need at home and during travel. Their current solution does not involve any other products that might compete with mine. They have not initiated information search into any better alternatives to their current solutions.

Comments

  1. Hey Peyton! I think you did a really good job with your post, again. Interviewing everyday makeup users was a smart choice, and it revealed where you have to change your product, or rather the way you'll advertise it. Also nice summary of your findings and description of the segment. Great job!

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  2. Hey Peyton! Its very cool that your idea proposition has been nailed down to the point that your customer research matches the projected problem that you set out to solve! I also think that targeting hotels and Airbnb's is a very important and significant sector with a lot of room to grow. Awesome research!

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