Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 12A

Because my idea involves multiple different groups, I tried to talk to people from each group that is involved in my startup. After talking to a middle-class homeowner about how willing they would be to donate goods it became clear they do have the need and desire to help donate goods. The need awareness aspect of this was a little troubling, however. This person described their need to donate goods as when they discovered they were out of date and could no longer use them. This meant that the goods were wasted regardless of if the option was there to have them donated or not. After going farther in the conversation some hope was presented. They said that if the option was there to donate the goods there is a possibility that the mindset could be changed and then the food saved before they expire. The need awareness typically began around dinner time or after going to the store to get more groceries and they saw what goods were expiring or they had no use for anymore. The information search experience was also interesting. This person described a feeling of guilt associated with wasting the food. This person also is active in donating goods currently. The opportunity never existed to donate the expiring goods, but they have often wanted to have different goods picked up to be donated before. They generally just donate to the closest drop off location for donations. Their search generally ends with knowing which locations are open and closest for donations. What I concluded from this conversation was that this person would be more willing to donate nonperishable goods and have them picked up than they would perishable goods.

The next conversation with a restaurant employee was also insightful. This employee described the need awareness as generally happening when doing inventory and receiving new food shipments. This is when raw materials were often not all the way used and were going out of date. They said that the need also could become aware whenever they notice that customers do not like a new food product or are simply not ordering something as often as expected and then they have extra ingredients. The information search usually began by offering the ingredients to employees and then if they had a food pantry that they knew they would sometimes offer it to them. Often the goods were just thrown away due to a lack of time to donate them. This bodes well for my start up as the option to have the goods picked up could work very well in their favor. Their need awareness and information search seems to fit within the parameters of my start up. Their main problems still circle around a lack of time rather than a lack of caring about wasting the goods.

Lastly, a conversation with a supermarket employee provided an interesting experience as well. They described the need awareness beginning when doing inventory and product cycling. They generally find items that exceeded buyer demand and have products that will expire. These processes are generally done at night when they restock the store. The information search process generally happens with asking employees if they know anyone who needs donations and giving them to a nonprofit that they know and work with. Occasionally there are multiple ones that they contact but if the one they generally work cannot pick up the goods for whatever reason they are often thrown away. Again, the root problem lies in not having the time to contact other nonprofits nor the time to deliver them. I think that again my start up could provide the solution by allowing them to post the materials they have for pick up to all the nonprofits in the community. I think the opportunity to help all parties involved still exists in these situations.