12A-Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1

Choosing a Segment

For this assignment, I choose to segment young millennials (ages 18-25) that visit the doctor often. The reason for visiting the doctor can be anything from chronic disease or the minor cold. This market of individuals deals with insurance, medications and physicians all the time. All three of the people I interviewed were students at UF around the ages between 20 and 25. Chloe is a pre-med student at UF however, suffers from diabetes and must visit the doctor yearly. Another, Austin is a senior political science major who claims to be sick at least 6 times year. The last interviewee Maria suffers from chronic back pain and visits the doctor at least 5 times a year for her back.

Interviews:

Chloe (21 years old) is a pre-med student at UF and suffers from type 1 diabetes. Upon coming to Gainesville, she needed to switch over her medical records to an endocrinologist in the area. She said this process was very difficult considering she was an out of state student. Also, her insurance had issues carrying over for her insulin. She said it would be nice to have all her medical records in one place without worrying about forgetting details or medications. Logging her sugar levels would help her maintain her sugars better and sharing this information with doctors before appointments would make her life easier. Chloe dislikes the wait before appointments and filling out paper work she feels she has filled out so many times before.

Austin (21 years old) says he gets sick very often. Although he does not know the reason why, he still visits the doctor a lot here in Gainesville. When the problem is chronic he visits the urgent care however, he wishes to find a primary care physician in the area. Austin can’t keep up with all the types of antibiotics he has been prescribed in the past and feels like his doctors are prescribing him the same thing every time. He wants to improve his health but his life as a student makes it hard for him to find time to just relax and get better. Austin says he plays two intramural sports and is part of a fraternity. Both activities take away from his time for his health. He said he would download the app to use it for pre-appointment uses and medication history.

Maria (25 years old) is a graduate student at UF and is studying law. Two years ago, she was in a horrible car accident where she was knocked unconscious and badly injured her back. She said that once she was in the ER that night, she was still unconscious and had no idea what happened to her. She actively visits chiropractors and physical therapists to this day and has not solved her back issues. Going through paper work at the doctor’s office is a pain and she prefers to get things done quickly without the hassle of paperwork. She currently takes medication for many reasons however, she knows the names of all her meds. She believed the app would be great for pre-appointment procedures but not so much for keeping medical records. She thinks she would only use the app for pre-appointment uses.  

What I learned:

I learned that the students only related to a few aspects of the app. The students all said they would only pay for an app if it was 100 percent necessary. They would buy the app if multiple doctors told them it was mandatory. All the students said they would like the app for pre-appointment purposes but not as much for the medical history and medication purposes. Austin, the student who is always sick, said he would like to track his medications so his doctors could help them more effectively. He was the only interviewee to say that this was important to him. I think this segment did not relate to the medical history aspect because their medical history has yet to become important to their health. The students were healthy and lived normal lifestyles. A more acutely sick person would relate to the medical history aspect.

Information Search: All the of the students told me when looking for medical care and information they use google and never think to use an app. Marketing would be key for the success of this app because this segment does not look to the app store for medical help and information. The students also said if they have a question about medical history or medications they just call their pharmacy or doctors.

How I would describe this segment:

This segment is very open to trying new things to improve their lives ; however, they need to desperately need the application on their phone before buying it. They search for information in the quickest way possible and have little room to waste time. These segment is just coming to understand the health care system and medications because most of them still live with their parents.