12 A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

 I selected “ home school parent/educator working with elementary school children” for my segment.

As soon as people select to home school their children, there is an immediate need for field trips or hands on learning experiences. They also want their children to interact with their peers during learning opportunities. This creates a social aspect as well. Traditional schooling offers all of these components, but as home school educators they have to think differently and plan accordingly. These field trips and hands on learning experiences are not necessarily shark specific when they initially identify the need. The need is really specific when curriculum such as predator prey systems, animal adaptations, ocean animals, ecosystems…etc. is being worked on or thought about. There are a wide range of topics and concepts to which sharks can be applicable and aid in learning. It becomes most salient when the parent starts looking for these kinds of STEM based learning opportunities.

If their student has an interest in sharks, then they begin to reach out for more information about shark related programs. This is where we fit in. Kids are usually fascinated by sharks and we get a lot of requests right after Shark Week each year. More and more schools are also having their own Shark Week. The need also becomes more specific when their students ask about oceans animals or sharks. Maybe they watch a documentary and want to learn more. Another starting point is when their son or daughter wants to be a marine biologist or learn more about what a marine biologist does.

All three of the people I interviewed are part of a larger home school group. They had heard about our program from other parents who had students attend our science education days. Their first step in finding activities, curriculum, learning opportunities is to consult with the group. If they are new to home schooling, they reach out frequently to the group for advice. This is the first place they go when searching for learning materials and opportunities. Next is a larger network of home school groups across the state of Florida, as they are also looking to still keep in line with standards. Parents with a positive experience working with us are spreading the word and we are now getting requests for whole groups to come do education days with us. I just booked a home school group and Girl Scout group for November. This came from positive feedback other parents gave. The common thread is a heavy reliance on the knowledge and experience of others in the group.

Once they have consulted groups, they move to Google. Searches can be quite diverse, but included:
“ STEM programs for students”
“STEM field trips”
“ Ocean curriculum”
“Ocean education programs”
“South Florida science education”
“Shark science programs for kids”
“South Florida STEM activities”
“Shark lesson plans for kids”
“Shark lesson plans”


I think home school parents, although they have the same age students, have slightly varying needs. The point of identity the unmet need which we have the solution for can vary. This depends on the current unit of study and level of interest a student has in sharks and ocean animals. The need awareness can also evolve as interest change and access to materials change. It can also be seasonal ( higher interest post Shark Week). They rely heavily on the groups they are part of for advice on materials, field trips..etc. This is their first point of reference when searching for solutions. This network is a considered an extremely valuable asset for providing solid education and learning experiences for their students.

Ultimately, the interviews helped me understand where to target our marketing and how much word of mouth is critical with home school groups. They have an incredible network and once a few parents have a positive experience, word spreads and demand for our programs increases. We also provide an opportunity for students to have social learning experiences, which is also highly sought after. I think it will help us fine tune a marketing strategy and find new places to reach out and share our work. It was also interesting to see how broad some of the search topics are. We will need to incorporate more of these into our framework and website and consider broader topics to which sharks can be applied. Every interview provides invaluable insight into how to make the product better and something the customer ultimately needs.