Logan Russell's Figuring Out Buyer Behavior #2

Interview #1: Ricardo Mendez Ricardo is one of many independent filmmakers I have had the privilege of meeting over the years. Due to his being in Los Angeles currently, I conducted my interview over the phone. I discussed my idea with Ricardo and he came to the conclusion that the only alternatives he knew of were crowdfunding cites like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo. He had tried using Kickstarter to fund a project but his deadline wasn’t reached. People using these cites don’t rely on price, style, or quality: they just want the money. Its one of those all or nothing situations, Ricardo said, in which there is either success or failure. As long as the capital is funded, no one should care how its packaged, and I agreed with him. The question of where or how the alternative is bought really doesn’t apply to my product, it being a film-centered funding platform. Everything is conducted over the internet and the companies make profits by taking a percentage of the funds. When it comes to the post “purchase” (because nothing is really purchased), again Ricardo reiterated that the endeavor would only be worth it if the money was sufficiently funded to meet the request. Because of the nature of my opportunity/product, combined with the questions of the prompt, the interview was rather short, but I got my information nonetheless. 

Interview #2: Sarah TomlinSarah is a good friend of mine from school who has moved to LA to make her mark on the film industry; she has made appearances in a few commercials and minor film roles as well. I spent the first few minutes of the interview discussing the nature of my idea, which received a positive reaction. I then asked her about what alternatives existed and she answered with other crowdfunding sites, namely Kickstarter. I asked if price, style, or quality matter in choosing which service to use, and she said definitely no to style. She stated that the cut of the funding the cite will take afterwards might be an influence, and that like style quality isn’t a significant decider. She also echoed that if the people get the money they ask for, they will be more than satisfied. The process can only go one of two ways: they get the money or they don’t. Again, I did not ask the how and where is it “purchased” question because everything of each alternative is conducted entirely online and there isn’t a purchasing aspect in crowdfunding per se. And in regards to the post purchase evaluation, Sarah shared the same sentiments as Ricardo, saying that what makes crowdfunding worth it is getting the money you asked for. If that one desire is met, then the customer is totally satisfied. 

Interview #3: Kristen LoweKristen is another friend of mine from Los Angeles who has served as a script supervisor on quite a few independent projects. Like the other two interviews I conducted, it was over the phone and was quite beneficial. I spent portion of the interview discussing the nature and properties of my opportunity and consequent product, which, like the first two interviews, got a positive reaction. I asked Kristen about the alternatives that exist for what I was trying to introduce, and she, like the others, mentioned a slew of crowdfunding sites that could be utilized to fund a film. When I asked her if she thought style, quality, and price influenced a person’s decision to use one of the sites. She answered much like Sarah, saying style and quality play second fiddle to price; most clients will use the site that takes the least from the accumulated funds. Like the other two interviews, I did not ask the how and where is it “purchased” question because everything of each alternative is conducted entirely online and there isn’t a purchasing aspect in crowdfunding per se. When discussing the post purchase evaluation, she echoed exactly what both Ricardo and Sarah said, saying that what makes the experience worthwhile is receiving the funds you asked for. 

Conclusions:I can conclude that what will make my idea the most effective, based upon the information I gathered from my interviews, is that focusing on the best method to get the most people fully funded would separate me from the competition. I should put more attention upon this than the style, but should focus on creating a quality product too that doesn’t take too much from the funded amount of each client.