12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Choosing A Segment: 

For this assignment, I went with a segment of people looking to help the homeless who did not have the money/resources to do so. The first one (Ben) is a finance major like myself, who has ambitious goals and an entrepreneurial mindset. The second one (AJ) is my younger brother who is 14, and finally (Indrajit) is another finance major student who is hoping to get into International Business. All three believe that helping out the homeless will be beneficial to society. 

Interview Info:

When I interviewed Ben we talked awhile about how this need can be solved. The need for homeless people to be helped is everywhere yet rarely anything happens to help them. Ben brought up how he liked my idea for helping the homeless. However he was concerned on funding for the project much like I was. It all sounded very hypothetical, as if this wasn't an attainable goal. 

Speaking with my brother was much more optimistic. He recognized that these people deserved better and he wanted to know ways to help. Having worked with a local soup kitchen, he knew the need was there. Furthermore, AJ liked my idea for the need, he thought it was cool to see how they would have to work jobs as compensation for living in the neighborhood. However, he was also concerned on how it would be paid for. He asked if it would be the government or someone rich and I said anything was a possibility. 

My interview with Indrajit went a similar route. He agreed that the people needed to be helped but only if they made up for the expenses with work in return. He also told me about how his parents' work was heavily concerned with real estate costs in tourist heavy regions. So as the conversation carried on we reached the similar checkpoint as the last two interviews. How will this be funded? Again, I stated we could lobby to politicians or seek funding from a philanthropic wealthy person.

What I learned:

I realized rather quickly that everyone ultimately feels a need to help homeless people. However, the demand for this is very low. Similarly to world peace or curing hunger, everyone ideally believes in it, but its massive presence as a problem makes it very hard to achieve. As such, my interviewees agreed that it should be done, but the  amount of conversation concerning funding points to the fact that it's not everyone's priority. Any ambitious attempt being made on this subject is looked at in a bad eye because of the multitude of problems in society at the moment.

How I would describe this segment:

It's safe to say that I am not the first college student who has devised a plan to help the homeless people. Many ambitious thinkers hope to find a solution to his problem, yet many fall short. It's definitely a need everyone is aware of, but its intense expenses and mass presence makes it very hard to tackle. Everyone wants to help the homeless, but many do not have the means to actually do so.