Figuring Out Buyer Behavior: Assignment 12

1.    Segment

Segment that I have picked is freshmen and sophomore students at UF. These students will have the hardest time adjusting to college life and college classes. Most of them are living away for the first time in their lives and are feeling lonely at school.

2.    Interviews

The first person that I interviewed was my friend’s little sister who is going to be a sophomore. I asked her how she was finding Gainesville and how her freshmen year was. She said living 5 hours away from home was hard at first, but she’s been able to talk to her sister who lives up here. She was able to talk to her sister, but she admitted that sometimes she wishes she could talk to someone else about more personal things. She said her first fall semester was the most challenging because she felt so lost: where does everyone go before a football game? Where should she study? What restaurants are good? It was disheartening for her to see people going out on the weekend without being invited or knowing where to go. The next person I interviewed was a coworker who is a sophomore as well. I asked him how his first year at UF went. He actually used the on-campus resources because his mom had told him about it. He said he did some research and asking around about it, and he decided to try to make an appointment. Unfortunately, there was about a two week wait and he didn’t want to wait so he never went to an appointment. The third person I interviewed was my mom’s friend’s daughter who will be a freshman this fall. She seems nervous, mostly about her classes. She said she wasn’t a top student at her high school, but she’s heard UF classes are really hard. I asked her if she had talked to any other current UF students and she said no, but that she had googled stuff about student life.

3.    Conclusion

Recognizing that the younger UF students might struggle a little more to find a mental health counselor is a big part of my business plan. Interviewing the second guy also made me realize that parents are an important way that information gets disseminated to college students. While there are Facebook groups and Reddit, kids, especially those fresh out of high school, still rely on their parents to do research for them.

Comments

  1. Jackson GoreJune 15, 2020 at 8:03 AM

    Hi Chaplin,
    It seems like there absolutely is a need for your product at the University of Florida, especially for underclassmen. It must be frustrating to contact the school for an appointment for your mental health and have to wait two weeks. It is evident that there is room for improvement. In my experience getting adjusted to campus, a lot of the information I received was word of mouth, and it is important that all students have access to accurate and helpful information they may need.

    ReplyDelete

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