Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 1

Segment

Athletes aged 18-45

Interviews

College student-athlete 1:

Need awareness:

·       Yes, she experiences the problem of needing healthy food but not wanting to prepare it

·       The unmet need is most prominent later on weeknights and most of the weekend, when her breakfast and lunch meal plan is not available

·       It’s worst when she has not gone to the grocery store in a long time, barely has any good food on hand, and is really hungry

·       It occurs at home

Information search:

·       When she first becomes aware her stomach is growling and her body needs fuel, she usually walks over to her fridge or pantry, searching for anything to eat. 

·       If there’s not anything good, she settles on some snacks or orders takeout. 

·       She is not usually satisfied with this solution, as she feels like she should be eating healthier food.  Oftentimes, she finds her workouts to be less productive the next day after not having a solid, balanced dinner.

·       Usually, she’ll plan a time to grocery shop if the need occurs more than one day in a row.  However, she is not always able to make it to the store that day, which delays healthy eating even longer

Very active mother with 2 daughters who are also athletes:

Need awareness:

·       As an organized mother who cooks for her entire family, she attempts to plan out each weeknight dinner beforehand (usually on the weekend).  This is when she becomes aware of the need to prepare healthy food.

Information search

·       Scouring a list of recipes, she’ll usually decide on 4 or 5 dinners to make throughout the week, and she will go to the grocery store to purchase ingredients.  It requires a lot of effort to think of things to make, and she does not enjoy this process.  Moreover, she tends to make similar things over and over, and her family gets tired of them.

·       A previous Hello Fresh user, she enjoyed how it removed the burden of meal planning and buying fresh ingredients herself.  The meals, however, were not up to the nutritional standards she hoped for.  As a vegetarian, she worried the non-meat options did not provide enough protein for her extremely active daughters.  Lack of variety and many less-than-balanced meals, in addition to the “not-worth-it anymore” cost, caused her to cancel her subscription.  She still makes her own “beefed up” version of her favorite Hello Fresh recipes though, without meat of course.

College student-athlete 2: 

Need awareness:

·       He enjoys cooking, eats super healthy, and rarely goes out to eat.  The need for quick, wholesome mostly occurs when he returns from tough afternoon practices and needs to make dinner. 

·       The need is worst on weekdays when he is tired and bogged down with homework to do.  Additionally, it occurs more when he has no leftovers.

·       Often, by the time he sits down to eat, he is extremely hungry, and it’s usually past the golden 1 hour window for optimal recovery food.

Information Search:

·       Using the internet, family members, and cookbooks to find recipes, he attempts to vary up his diet but often ends up eating the same things each week anyway.  He gets tired of this and wishes new dishes would just appear on his table.

·       He lives alone and prides himself on making healthy food.  In order to do so, he must go to the grocery store often to buy small quantities of fresh produce.  Otherwise, it goes bad before he can eat it, or he must rely on frozen.

             

Conclusions. 

Based on my research, the segment usually becomes aware of the need before they need to make meals or plan for them.  The need usually occurs at home, and it is worst on busy days or days where the consumer is tired. To find information, recipes are often utilized, and the grocery store is a necessary stop.  There are a variety of solutions athletes aged 18-45 currently utilize, but they are not ideal.