15A: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interview 1: The first college student that I interviewed is a freshman in college. She said when she goes shopping for clothing or shoes, she prefers to buy at the store. She said she does not like to buy online because she cannot see or feel the product beforehand and would not know if it would fit/ work. She said what matters to her the most when buying a product is the price, since she is a college student who is budgeting her costs. I told her about alternatives to plastic and she said she already buys them at the store. She did say she bought metal straws on Amazon because she found a good deal online and she couldn't find any in stores. She shops online frequently for little things like phone cases. I asked her how she makes sure that her purchase was a good idea after she buys something, and she said she usually looks up reviews online for products so she knows it will be worth it.

Interview 2: The second college student I interviewed is a junior in college. He said he rarely shops, but when he does, he shops in stores. He likes to go in the store and buy what he needs and leave as fast as he can. He said he does not like to buy online because he would rather buy something and have it the same day. He said quality matters to him the most when shopping. He tends to buy high end products because he does have a job and extra money to spend. Since he does not shop frequently, he has more money saved up. I told him about the alternatives to plastic and he said he does not currently buy any. I told him about the different alternatives and he said if they were priced at a good price, he would consider buying them. I asked him how he makes sure that after he purchases a product, that he would not regret it after and he said he makes sure he actually likes it and is going to use it.

Interview 3: The third college student that I interviewed is a junior in college. This student said she buys in stores and online. She buys her clothing and shoes in stores, but online she likes to buy small things like books, watch bands, and laptop cases. She said what matters to her the most when buying products is the price. She is on her own, without the help of her parents, so she is on a tight budget. I told her about the alternatives to plastic and she said she has bought some already. She bought these alternatives such as reusable straws and reusable bags online because the price was affordable and it was convenient to buy online. She said some of the alternatives that she wants, she can only find online. For example, she wanted these reusable bags that were wrapped in a pouch for easy storage and she found them online. I asked her how she decides that the product she buys is a good idea and she said she looks up reviews before buying.

Overall, the three college students that I interviewed, 2 out of 3 said they already buy alternatives to plastic and the other one said they would if it was a good price. Price is the most important factor to most college students because they are usually on a small budget. Regarding, post-purchase evaluation, most of my interviewees said they look up reviews online before buying a product.