12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Choosing a segment: 

• For my product, I have divided my market into 4 segments: Universities, Bar/Club Businesses, Social Organizations that hosts Tailgates, and IFC Fraternities. I am choosing the segment IFC Fraternities for this assignment. I have interviewed 3 senior members of different IFC Fraternities. While they do not have the exact authority to makes purchases, they have enough knowledge to influence the Eboard members( which are also students) of these Fraternities. 

Member 1: This person belongs to Pike, a notorious frat on this campus for throwing wild parties. 

Member 2: This person belongs to Alpha Tau Omega and has been part of the organization since his freshman year. 

Member 3: This person belongs to Delta Chi and has been part of the organizations since his freshman year. 

What I learned: 

• After interviewing these three people, I came to learn that they share the common unmet need that my product was made to solve: They constantly have issues with creating safe drinking environment and have multiple episodes of where people are binge-drinking uncontrollably. Most of the guys mentioned that this situation occurs during summer B or in the Fall when tailgating season starts. All of them stated that this occurs in someone’s Frat house whether its their own or a different one. The point where people start binge-drinking uncontrollably is unknown because it occurs at different times for different people depending on their side and other factors. However, they all said that most of the people that have this problem are freshman. They all mentioned that they try to create a safe-drinking environment but that its a little hard when there is so many people.They all stated that there is always some brothers who are not drinking and in charge of maintaining an atmosphere clear of fights and trouble.  
• Furthermore, when I asked them, what they do when they see someone that definitely has had to much too drink and looks about to pass out, they responded a little differently. Member 1 said that it depends on the situation and who it is. If it was a fellow brother or potential recruit, they wouldn’t take it as seriously and give give them water and tell them to sit down. Member 2 said that if it was another male and depending on how bad the situation was, that most of the time he would make sure that that person doesn’t receive anymore drinks and makes them chug water. Member 3 said that if another male was about to pass out, that he would sit them down, bring them water, take them outside to throw up, and send them home with a friend. However, most of them said that if they saw a girl about to pass out from binge-drinking, that they would find her friends and hand her off to them for them to take care of her. One member said that he would check up on the girl every so often. They wouldn’t talk to family for information because they have already been instructed on what to do in these situation by older brothers. 

Drawing Conclusions: 

• I think that this segment is pretty aware of the current unmet need and try to solve it to the best of their abilities. In my opinion, they do need to have better sources of information and crisis plans. I think that these three interviewees do good in representing the larger population of IFC Fraternities nationally and their problems.