15 A- Buyer Behavior 2

The segment I selected is “ home school parent/educator working with elementary school children.”
Visiting an education center and attending events is a little bit different than buying a physical product, but there are still decisions the buyer makes. For this segment they reach out to other parents and home school educators first when looking for alternatives. Their community and network is a huge component of their decisions. If someone else in the group has had a positive experience, they are more likely to select that item/opportunity. This also helps me identify how important word of mouth will be when working with these groups. I am a member of a Facebook group and I see their questions and comments about new programs and products, so I have had a glimpse into their research and selection process.

Price is definitely as significant aspect during the selection process, especially when a parent or educator has multiple students. It’s not the most important, but it’s definitely something they all consider when making a decision. They want to know they are getting value for their money. They usually ask us how much and how long the program will be. They also want to know the activities and experience might align with the curriculum they are working with. These elements are what they base the decision on, but also how they asses the experience afterwards. Was it worth the money? Did their kids enjoy it? Did they learn something? Would they do it again or recommend to other parents and educators. Based on interviews and working with home school parents for our already existing programs, I think the duration, cost and actual itinerary schedule are the key factors for deciding to participate in a program like ours.

They will look for these opportunities online as well as by reaching out to their network. They may have a smaller group they work with regularly, so will reach out to them first. After the smaller group then they reach out to the larger network and then finally online searches. There are websites which list curriculum and opportunities for homeschool students. This is something we have not explored, but definitely want to get our materials and opportunities listed on.

The programs will not be high priced, so payment can be flexible. They can pre pay online through our payment page or they can pay cash when they arrive. I believe most people will pay online because it’s how we shop now. The people I interviewed all said they would pay online because it’s easier. This means we definitely need to have a well organize payment portal. We will be selling to individuals and groups, so the online payment option is a must.

Once they have participated there will definitely be a post purchase evaluation. When asked, the parents said they would evaluation using the following criteria.

• Did their students enjoy it? Did the kids learn, but also have fun?
• Was it worth the money? Do they feel like the program was valuable? This is defined by the experience the kids had and what they can take away from it. 
• Did we provide a unique experience?
• Would they do it again? If they feel like the had an amazing experience and the students really enjoyed it, they will definitely do another program with us.
• Would they recommend it?

They would consider it a bad idea if they felt the materials were not age appropriate or the learning experience wasn’t what they anticipated.

Overall, I think it really just shows how much word of mouth will be key with this customer. They rely heavily on their networks to source information and share resources. Good reviews will be shared with a large number of new potential customers. This is probably more important than a Google search. We want to build a relationship with this network and continue to have them visit the center and utilize our programs.