Assignment 15A: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

The interviews have been very helpful to see the idea of a heatable bicycle seat cover from another perspective and to get some useful advice for improvements.

Again all interviewees liked the idea of the heatable bike seat cover because they are all annoyed by the cold seat during the winter. This time I interviewed two male persons and one female. The female one told me that she would definitely use it on her way to university. But she was concerned about the way back home because the seat is also cold when she rides the bike home and she won’t be able to heat the grain pillow in a microwave (there is none available at the university for students). Her advice was to use heat cushions which you can activated with bending a piece of metal that is integrated in the cushions instead of using a grain pillow.

One of the male persons suggests to offer bike seats that have a heater wire in it which produces heat energy when riding the bike. The other male person told me it might be also a good idea to offer seat covers that cool the seat down during the hot seasons. Because the bike seat can become really hot when the sun shines and sometimes it not possible to sit on in with shorts for example.

With reference to the price all of the interviewees explained me that they are students and that they don’t have the money to spend a lot for those covers. Furthermore they suggested to sell the products via the Internet in an online shop. It is easier to spread information about this shop due to social media and the costs are lower because it is not necessary to rent a store or place them in other stores. In addition to that people can buy with credit card for example which is safer than paying with cash. Those factors have a positive influence on the purchase of the seat cover. The most important thing for them is, that they want to recognize a difference after the purchase when riding the bicycle. They really want their need to be satisfied but they also don’t want to reclaim it because of any production failure.

All in all I have learned that the segment is price sensitive, because especially students often don’t have the money to spend a lot on such seat covers. Furthermore they buy most of their stuff via the internet and it will be easier to reach a lot of people due to social media. In addition to that it is important to consider other alternatives to heat the seat cover during the winter or even to cool it in the summer.