12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: Single, working parents

To complete this assignment, I had to opportunity to meet with three (3) single, working mothers. During my conversations with them, we discussed the difficulties of meeting the demands of their children and meeting the demands of their employer. It’s hard to prioritize between the two as they need to meet the demands of their employer in order to meet the demands of their children. All three of the moms felt there were days they failed at meeting the demands of both. We discussed the difficulties of getting their children to their activities and events. We discussed how some days, they just cannot be in two places at the same time, and it’s on those days they feel they failed their children the most. They are quick to say their children understand the difficulties their moms face, but it’s the moms who feel they are a disappointment.

The awareness of this need was recently felt by one of the moms I spoke with. She was called in to work early which left her in a bind. She had to make arrangements for her son to be taken to school, however, the people she depended on most to assist her were not available to help. She brought her son with her to work and continued to desperately try to find an alternative means to get him to school. The Uber App was not working and she felt the pressure from her manager building to get her child to school. In discussing this situation with her, she was uncomfortable putting her son in an Uber Car alone because she didn’t know how safe he would be. She also knew if she didn’t, her boss would not be happy if she had to leave to take him to school. After taking a few deep breaths, she was able to calm down and get the Uber app to work. She met the Uber car outside, took a picture of the driver, and sent her son off to school.

After she shared her story, the other moms explained some instances where they faced challenges in getting their children to their activities and events. Although for the most part they can rely on friends and family for help, there are days they have no one, and it becomes a mission to find a way to get their children where they need to be. Uber and Lyft are options for them, however, they are not comfortable placing their children in the care of those drivers.

Most single working parents in this situation always look to friends and family for help, but what happens when they are not there? They look to Uber, Lyft and Google. Some of the searches we discussed are private car services, private transportation services, child transport services, public transportation service, safe transportation services and nanny drivers. All are valid searches within Google to assist parents with finding a way to get their children to where they need to be.

Single working moms may not able to afford a nanny, which means they are forced to find alternative means to transport their children where they need to go. If there was an affordable transportation service such as Mom-Assist, where they could watch their child throughout the entire ride from Point A to Point B to ensure their children arrived safely at their destination, they would consider using it. The trust factor would be the hardest part to overcome for them, but if they are willing to use Uber or Lyft, they would be willing to try Mom-Assist too.