Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: 
I chose a segment of established business leaders. All three of my interviews were with people who own a business. One is a man who owns a small boutique in Fort Lauderdale and has had several successes and failures in his business ownership. Another is a woman who has been the manager of a department store for six years. The third is the owner of a shoe store in Gainesville, who sells her own handmade products, along with a variety of brands and styles.

Interview:
I talked to the man who owns a small boutique in Fort Lauderdale and asked him what he thought of my product idea and if he would be willing to invest in a leather alternative. I talked with him about the different ways in which leather is bad for our environment and he showed some concern. He said it would be hard for him to switch over completely since his customers come for specific items and he might lose business, but he said he would be willing to incorporate the product into some of his items. The woman who is the manager of a department store said she thought my idea was really interesting but showed the same concern as the man I initially interviewed. Some customers might get upset about a changing product. The owner of the shoe store was very interested in the uniqueness of using fruit as a leather alternative and said she would be interested in using it for her handmade items, but said it might be difficult to sell to big corporations due to the societal norm of leather in products.

What I learned:
From conducting these interviews I learned that there was a lot of pushback to using faux leather due to the fear of customers now being interested. There was a common concern of the loss of customers since it is such a huge change for companies to switch over such a desired material. The demand for faux leather might not be that high because there are not a lot of people who are educated in the leather industry. I learned that people are really afraid of implementing new products into their business because they are fearful of losing sales. I do think the concern is valid because people, in general, don't like change, but with something so detrimental to our environment, I think people would be willing to buy a leather alternative if people were educated on the topic. 

How I would describe this segment:
I think that there are a lot of successful people who have thought about how to better their products and how to reach a broader audience. This segment would not necessarily switch over their whole business to being cruelty-free, but they would consider implementing the leather alternative. This segment does understand the purpose of the product and would consider using it, but they need some time to consider their target audience.