Assignment 15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

The people whom I've interviewed all fall under the segment of college kids who live around campus and have trouble finding parking.

Interview 1: The first individual I interviewed was my roommate, who is a junior at UF and commutes to campus by car. When I asked him about the most important aspects regarding parking in the city, he said that it has to be affordable, widely available, and reliable. He pointed out that the alternative UF decal and nearby neighborhood decals can come at a hefty cost and are often not reliable, although they are widely available. He claims that it is rare to find parking that is quick and easy, and also relatively affordable. When these conditions are met, his opportunity is considered satisfied. He only believes that paying for parking somewhere would only be a bad purchase if he did not find a convenient spot.

Interview 2: My second interview was with my neighbor who also commutes to school by car daily. When asked to pick out of all the available parking alternatives such as the UF decal, Neighborhood parking, or paid parking garage, he claimed that he prefers garage parking simply due to the fact that he is almost guaranteed to find a spot. In contract, the single-floored parking lots for UF decals fill up very rapidly throughout the day and often stay full, forcing people to park even farther away from their destination. He explained that if he were to pick out the most important thing for parking it would have to be reliability since he is always on a time schedule when trying to make it to his classes. When asked what helps him determine if his purchase was a good idea, he says that as long as he is parked close to where he needs to get, then the purchase is a good idea.

Interview 3: The third interview I conducted was with my friend Sean who also drives around the city in a car and has trouble finding parking in many areas such as UF campus, midtown, and downtown. I asked him what matters the most to him when it comes to parking, and he claims that he is satisfied as long as its cheap and easily accessible. He states that alternatives such as university decals and neighborhood parking are just too hard to find and they're not available when he needs them the most. He seemed to be a firm believer that the city needs to improve the parking situation and that he would even be willing to pay more if consistent and reliable parking was provided. For him, as long as he is able to find parking close to where he needs to go, he is satisfied.

Conclusions: After conducting these three interviews,  a general trend that I've realized is that people are actually willing to spend money if it means having a reliable means of parking. As such, the most important factors when it comes to parking is reliability, and consistency. A plausible reason for this, especially on campus, is that people are on a time crunch and need to find parking within a certain span of time to avoid being late. For all of these interviews, post purchase behaviors indicated that as long as a convenient spot was acquired, the customer is satisfied.