15a. What do the girls do when they don't get the Rose™?

Bachelor references aside, thinking about your secondary options is a very engaging and equally important part in figuring out where the market stands. In today's post, I arranged three journalism students, none with any specific field in interest regarding privacy but know of the issues that privacy faces, and was able to get some differing takes on what the selection process entails with their purchasing.

Alternative evaluation

A shocked consumer

The Tag

There was some differentiation when it came to the price tag. Some students were sensitive to price, listing it as a top two decision making point. However, one of the students who has had some intern experience knows that certain purchases can be reimbursed by an employer if it provides proper advantage to their work, so any journalist who is conducting sensitive work or is in an area where surveillance can be paramount to safety, price won't be too much of an issue.

You should grab as much attention as a pair of Off-Whites (Wrong)

The Style

In the case of security, this is a product that you want to be subtle if not incognito about. Having done research on competition, I knowingly introduced bias by exposing my interviewees to what others have on the market. One particular competitor has a hat with built in lights to project light for security cameras, but the LED bulbs are very visible in the brim of the cap. They offer an option of a plain black hat, which suffers the previously mentioned flaw, and another black hat with a logo that in my opinion gives away the fact you are obscuring yourself. All interviewees understandably said they would want a product that does not bring attention to the intent of what they are doing even if it is meant to be subtle.

Cheeky but bitcoins could matter

The Method of Payment

This is probably where people afraid of operational security and global threats come into play. While it sounds silly, reporting in places like Russia, China or even the US, the threat of a paper trail can be a major factor. Paying in cash is obviously one of the easiest ways to remove the fear of an electronic paper trail, but when asked the students said they didn't see this as a major concern. In my own research though, there would be some niches more attracted to purchasing my product without the paper trail but doing so online means an anonymous payment method. Bitcoin, while not fully anonymous, can provide a backbone for purchases that occur online without any need to have banks or online vendor have storage of that purchase on a person's record.

You got to have the situation on lock

How/Where does it go down? In the DMs?

The world today is hyper decentralized in accessing the markets, so the best way and the most competitive way to do sales is through online. Because of this situation, online purchasing would most likely go through cards; purchases can be conducted with cash, but are a lot more cumbersome and would possibly be a deterrent. All students confirm the online purchasing paradigm, but outside of them the privacy of purchases is an area I personally feel can be an advantage. No student could provide a B2B perspective, but I could possibly work one out if there is demand en masse for certain sectors of my segments.

The queen of happy purchases

The Post-purchase matrix

Across the board, all interviewee's agreed that utility is key: did this product work? what is the durability? can this product last me longer than any other at a reasonable price? All these are questions the students agree make up a good chunk of their happiness with that purchase. 

The full summary

When going through the alternative evaluation, decision making and post-purchase process, this segment helped clear up some muddy thoughts I had on what things may need prioritizing with the product, like design and durability, while clearing up the painful truth that this product will have to be sold online and with that is open to the vulnerabilities of electronic surveillance, but depending on how much you care that may not matter.