15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Buyer Behavior

Interview 1

Older Man Outside of Trader Joe’s - Mark

I asked an older man outside of Trader Joe’s about his buying behavior. He looked like he was in his 60s. He refused to tell me how old he was. He was on several prescription medications. I asked him about having to pick from a set of alternative prescriptions, and how he would go about doing that. The most important factor this buyer considered related to his prescriptions was quality. He wanted to make sure that everything he was ingesting was manufactured in a licensed and accredited factory or laboratory. He was willing to pay more to take high-quality and “safe” prescription medications. However, he mentioned he would pay a price tag that was reasonable, given comparables in the market. I asked him about pill size and packaging and he said it didn’t matter. Furthermore, we discussed where he would look to buy medication that fit his standards and he said he would go to his doctor to get a prescription. He would use a simple service for researching this information if it was easy to use for somebody with poor eyesight. Mark’s post-purchase attitude included making sure he essentially got what he paid for in his medication.

Interview 2

Young Woman Outside of Target CVS - Stephanie

I asked a younger woman outside of Target about her prescription buying behavior. She has one prescription she picks up every month. She hadn’t thought too much about how she could be saving money on medicine by looking for a lower cost option. When it came to “shopping” for her medicine, she mainly focused on which physician to go to, to receive a proper evaluation for her nerve condition. She trusts that good doctors make good recommendations for prescriptions. Stephanie was concerned with where her prescription was coming from (who manufactured it) to make sure it was effective enough to relieve her aches. She would pay for a service that researches more in depth about her medication so she could stay knowledgeable about new findings related to her condition, as well as treatments for her condition. Like most online services, Stephanie would use a credit card to subscribe to such a service. Stephanie would consider if her subscription was a good choice by determining how much information she was able to find to learn more about the medicine she takes, and if it saved her money in the long run.

Interview 3

Colleague at Work - Rebecca

I asked my colleague Rebecca about her purchasing behavior for prescribed medicine. She is very frugal with her money but also understands that quality products are generally more expensive. Her most important decision factor for purchasing anything involves the price. She likes to ask herself if she can really afford it, especially when it comes to recurring expenses like medication. Rebecca also has trouble swallowing big pills, so she has to ask her doctor (before he writes up any prescription) what the pills look like. She is all in favor of finding a cost-effective way of discovering medicine that meets all of her needs as a buyer. She currently purchases her prescription from a local Publix pharmacy. Rebecca decides whether or not her purchase was a good one if she didn’t spend more than her budget could handle for the month.

Summary

Based on my findings from these interviews, I found that my customer segment prefers to know the most about the quality of their medications when determining how to proceed with the purchasing process. Medication has the potential to be abused and cause severe side effects. This has a lot to do with what they are made out of and how they are packaged to customers. Also, this customer segment tends to determine whether or not their purchasing decision was good by looking at how the purchase has affected their account balances. If something they buy is reasonably priced, and/or ends up saving them money, they all agree that they had made the right purchasing decision and would make the same decision again if possible.