12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Interviews Summary: The segment that I decided to focus on for my interviews was undergraduate students specifically living in Broward Hall. I chose between 3 students, one had a car and was a freshman, the second had a scooter and was a freshman, the third was a sophomore with a car. I asked each of these three students at one times the need most frequently arises, and they all seemed to agree together that it mostly occurs on weekends or after classes. For classes, they usually can walk to where they need to go or use a bike. However, the problem is most persistent whenever they need to go shopping for groceries, go to events off campus, or just eat out at a place that is not included on campus. They also become most aware of this need whenever they are slapped with a $35 ticket for parking where they should not be. Two of the three students (owners with the cars) have both been hit with at least one ticket. The student on the scooter also has this unmet need, but in a different way. This student has seemed to find their own solution. They purchased a scooter which allows them to travel without having any major issues finding parking, however, they are pretty concerned with the safety of using these scooters. He says that he does not wear a helmet when he is riding, and tries to use the scooter minimally. He says he would much rather have a car on campus so that he does not have to deal with the dangers of riding on a scooter on open roads next to the cars. He was also pretty annoyed that he had to cash out a hefty sum of money for his scooter, which he now barely uses. When these students became aware of their need, they took different approaches to find solutions. The student with a scooter, well he purchased a scooter 2 weeks in school starting. The other two students, the freshman and the sophomore with a car, said that they have started to park their car at the Jennings lot. However, they also agreed that finding parking their is very random and their are some days where they have to move their car all the way to the commuter lot and make the 15 minute walk to Broward, which is a huge convenience. The sophomore also conducted extensive research into parking policies at UF and solutions to their need, but to no avail. Whatever, they searched, they found that parking still was an issue. She said that she has received 5 tickets for invalid parking since she came to UF.

Conclusions: After conducting these interviews, I found that these students in this particular age segment all face the same unmet need. When freshman first come to the University of Florida, they are often unaware of the strict parking policies, and they fall victim to numerous tickets. Paying for classes is expensive enough and having to pay parking tickets on top of it can be quite annoying. I also found that these students have different personal solutions to the problem, however, I see a trend: most students either purchase a scooter or park over at Jennings, Beaty Towers, or the commuter lot. Freshman coming to college looking to bring their car could definitely do with having more efficient parking. It would make the college experience all the more enjoyable, and hopefully it will save them a lot of money in the long run and avoid falling victim to parking violations.