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If possible, say that you're doing it as research for an agency. People are nice and don't want to hurt your feelings. ("Yeah, I'd totally buy that! Oh, I didn't bring my credit card, sorry...") Also, if you have competitors, try getting feedback on their apps as well. It can give you hints about what they are doing right and wrong, and how you can differentiate.
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I can't say exactly why it is, but I bet no one would have felt off-put if you had offered gift cards instead of cash. People in general will be much more comfortable taking a gift card than cash.
The person probably thinks "I can afford a cup of coffee so I don't need your money". A gift on the other hand is meant to be given away so seems alright.
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> If you're willing to be bold, walk right up to people and ask, you don't need to offer free coffee or gift cards. If many people did this, it would quickly become an incredible annoyance. Have some respect for the commons!
This. As much as it may work right now, because basically no one is doing it, as soon as it becomes a popular method, it seem to me it will stop working pretty quickly. Everyone doing it will become equivalent to a Jehova's Witness knocking on your door. That said, I imagine I'd be more okay with it if every time I said yes I got a free coffee. Aside: I wonder how different reactions would be in different countries/c…
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This is fine on the street, but not inside a Starbucks. As soon as you start approaching customers inside a business, they have the right (and obligation) to ask you to leave.
The OP had a table set up with the gift cards, and was only (I think) engaging people who came up to the table. Presumably he had the permission of the shop management to set up on the table. I'm happy with that provided he wasn't hogging the big table at peak times. If you are not interested, just don't go to the table. I'd hate people walking up to me at random inside the coffee bar (UK reserve perhaps). PS: to US…
You may enjoy taking a marketing class :-) From what I understand, market analysis can always be done on the cheap if you want to take some accuracy risk - there's a clear self selection bias here, along with a geographic one (there may a common socioeconomic background for the coffee shop patrons) Also, if you care about kids, it may have worked better at a coffee shop in front of a toy store in a mall, or at the fo…
Also if you're actually trying to get kids to interact with the app, you'll get a much better response if you have a woman with you. Parents are more likely to be comfortable letting their children interact with a woman.
Interesting that sitting in a cafe offering people $5 cash for their opinion would be a terrible idea, but offering them a free coffee is brilliant. To @vishl, I don't take food from people on the street. I don't trust it. "What if it's poisoned?" What you're thinking does happen - some people offer me free candies, Reese Peanut Butter cups etc as an incentive to talk to me on the street. I avoid them. The coffee com…
You won't take sealed candy from people on the street because it might be poisoned?
If the candy is sealed they could have just as easily snuck it onto a store shelf.
Asking if someone will pay is probably as valuable as not asking. Most people aren't going to say something bad about your work, when you are right in front of them. And talk is cheap.
On one hand you are buying some coffee.
On the other hand you are probably driving away the customers who can afford to pay for their own coffee and do not feel like being your guinea pig.
Interesting that sitting in a cafe offering people $5 cash for their opinion would be a terrible idea, but offering them a free coffee is brilliant. To @vishl, I don't take food from people on the street. I don't trust it. "What if it's poisoned?" What you're thinking does happen - some people offer me free candies, Reese Peanut Butter cups etc as an incentive to talk to me on the street. I avoid them. The coffee com…
> "What if it's poisoned?" You won't take sealed candy from people on the street because it might be poisoned? If the candy is sealed they could have just as easily snuck it onto a store shelf.
Give most people a glass of water and ask them to spit in it, and then ask them to drink it. Most people don't drink it. It's their spit, it's only just come out of their mouth, so why don't they drink the water?
I wonder how the manager of that starbucks feels about that. On one hand you are buying some coffee. On the other hand you are probably driving away the customers who can afford to pay for their own coffee and do not feel like being your guinea pig.
Eh? Seems like a simple "No thanks" would due just fine.