Pavlov's Customer: Ring Them Up and Sell

With the understanding of how the demographic I am targeting responds to approaching the market, it now comes to understand how they will picture competitors and the tradeoffs that come with features that others provide at their price point.

For the sake of brevity I will be condensing and clarifying conversations as to not be weighed down by entire transcripts.

J: Male, 17, High School Senior, photo hobbyist at best, occasional selfies at worst

J has had little experience in the process of purchasing anything related to photography equipment, but is definitely an online shopper and consumer of online content. He is partial to online video content and understands how to navigate online consumer guides and reviews. When offered several options for cameras, ranging from the cheaper options like digital hardware cameras, more advanced automatic digital automatic cameras, bridge cameras which include some manual mirror reflection combined with digital collection and DSLR which are the most competent consumer option for quality to price, he was most averse to price even with the level of quality. By providing an alternative for the quality that works with an already sunk price of a smartphone, there was steady interest in what the quality could provide given the costs, but aversion this time was centered around lack of knowledge of the product. His main form of research would be preliminary search engine queries, coupled alongside a quick survey of youtube videos of comparison videos. There was a lack of complete authority in how to properly compare different systems, and relied upon a synthesis of different sources of varying degrees of quality and information. the biggest regret would be to misinterpret technical explanations of differences and to sink a purchase into a product that doesn't facilitate its own use and is disregarded soon after purchase.

E: Female, 20, College student, attending art school with passion for photography

E is an incredible artist in her own right with her photography blowing me away constantly. With her dedication to her art inclining her to focus on quality and consistency, her perspective as a young photographer is insightful for those who value the quality that larger price tags entail. When comparing the different options between digitals and zooms and bridges and the DSLR, she already has purchased a DSLR and still considers them the best option for quality to dollar ratios. When exposed to another alternative with the inclusion of more inexpensive pieces meant as additions to a sunk cost like a phone, she expressed an interest in what it could mean from a photographer's perspective to try and make quality more accessible and portable. Considering her background in photography spanning early in her high school years, she understands the technical meanings and breakdowns of the hardware, and could synthesize what would be beneficial for her work or recreation. Her more prevalent regrets include lack of knowledge on her purchases or impulse buys that may not have been accurately assessed and have just been emotional rather than pragmatic.

J: Male, 20, College Student, Not a photographer but loves taking photos 

J is a great well rounded guy, being a former student athlete in high school and always intrigued in everything. His personal curiosity also allowed a shift in perspective with being open to all options without placing too much weight on a certain factor and is more malleable  to hearing out different perspectives. When going through the options, his lack of technical knowledge does not stop him from seeing each camera as unique and valuable in its own right, and would agree the level of interest he has and what he would expect of it in the future combined with the long term investment of the cost would be the two largest criteria for the choice of camera. His main form of research would be a mixture of web searches and asking the opinion of other friends who are experienced themselves in photography for further knowledge and even hands on trials with various cameras. When given an alternative in the attachments for a phone, his interest was similar to all other pieces. his main aversion is finding a camera that seems interesting but limits the chances of learning about the process and craft of photo taking, which means even our phone attachment can face scrutiny should it be limiting in what it offers.

After the collection of all this data, the most I can take away is the best way to consolidate the value of the product as well as become a major figure in such a cutthroat industry is to both provide quality gear that can give enough functionality to the user as well as create informational breakdowns of all products and features on the market and possibly help set standards for non-expert users to be able to comprehend and feel more confident in their purchases to mitigate that possibility of feeling like one lost their money or purchased something that was not what they had in mind. This segment as a whole feels like a success, mainly with honing in on what could possibly be the source of one of the most struggling processes in the entire time: the sale.