assignment

IBM Research

Assignment #10

1. How important is the country of origin important in purchasing tea? Why?

2. If you were presented with high quality premium oolong tea, what do you think makes it premium?

3. This tea can only be harvested in limited quantity at the highest mountain in Taiwan. The high altitude makes it naturally insect-free, unlike many other teas that claims to be organic. (Most government permits the labeling of organic as long it is 80% organic. Will $50 price tag reasonable for such a product?

4. When selecting Oolong tea, what comes to mind that is important for you?

5. What is your biggest concern or fear when selecting premium teas?

6. What would make you trust an oolong tea brand?

7. When it comes to taste, what do you prefer in your tea selection?

8. Oolong is renowned for its many micronutrient and antioxidants benefits, Do you think Oolong has personally made you feel healthier? In what areas, and how so?

9. What makes you be a loyal customer to a particular oolong brand?

10. How comfortable are you purchasing a premium tea? In-stores? Online? Why?

tian’s Interviews with 3 people:

Question no 1

The country's origin is essential for the purchasing of tea for more customers because of its quality and taste, depending on the tea. Various countries are cultivating tea plants, and the like the quality of the product is highly appreciated by the customers based on the land. Therefore, all the people within the interview have mentioned that tea's origin is necessary during purchasing due to its quality.

Question no 2

It has been determined from three people's interviews that the most attractive thing about oolong tea is its health benefits. It has been selected from the experiment and research that health benefits such as improvement of cardiovascular disease and diabetes are a significant quality of the tea. This quality attracts people from all over the world, due to which the organization is making considerable progress. Oolong tea is now traded to various countries such as China, the U.S due to its significant role in the health of the consumer.

Question no 3

The people have claimed that the tea's taste is the initial thing that comes in their mind when they think about the oolong tea. The tea can only be harvested in less quantity due to which the total cost of the product is high, but people purchase the product due to its benefits related to the heart and other diseases and its taste. There is no doubt that oolong tea's quality is also very efficient, but the people are most attracted to its liking. Furthermore, people have also mentioned that along with the quality; its composition contains organic compounds that are beneficial for the human body.

Question no 5

During the interview, the people have claimed that the biggest fear of purchasing tea is that the product is costly, and all people cannot buy it due to a limited budget. The product is expensive because a lot of effort and time is required to harvest the work, and the product can only be harvested in specific regions. The harvesting procedure of oolong tea is also expensive, which leads to a costly product. Therefore, people have mentioned that the expensiveness of the work is their primary concern.

Question no 6

The brand is famous worldwide, and all people have given a positive response to oolong tea. The online purchase of the product is also increasing because now other countries such as the U.S and China are also interested in purchasing oolong tea. Therefore, people have said that they have built trust due to positive comments in social media applications.

Question no 7

Two of them said that they preferred chocolate flavor to select tea because they were fond of chocolate. Chocolate is also used to reduce the stress hormone and make people happy. But one of them claimed that he selects cream flavor most on chocolate due to its taste development for a cream tea. There are different flavors of tea, according to people's nature, to enjoy tea efficiently.

Question no 8

All of the people who were giving interview have told that their health becomes increase only due to the taking oolong tea. They said they were dealing with the various disease, but after using oolong tea, their health has growth positively. Thus the interview showed that oolong has health benefits due to which people become attracted toward tea.

Question no 9

Two people have told that the regular purchasing of products from the Oolong brand due to efficient taste and quality has become the brand's loyal customers. Simultaneously, one of them mentioned that she believes in the brand and online purchasing made her a loyal customer of oolong tea.

Question no 10

One of three people has mentioned in their interview that they preferred online shopping of the oolong tea because they have trust in the brand. The brand delivers original products so that the organization can have a good relationship with the customers. While on the other hand, two have agreed that physical shopping is far better than online stores because it allows them to check the quality and quantity of product at the time of purchasing.

Mai’s Interviews: Mother, sister, and neighbor who are avid oolong tea drinkers

1. How important is the country of origin important in purchasing tea? Why?

a. Mother: It is very important because different places have good or bad tasting tea with how they handle it, so it can take some time to try different kinds to see which one best fits your tastes

b. Sister: I don’t really taste a difference when it’s from different locations, as long as it tastes good and expensive enough. Expensive enough meaning that it has a strong taste and not old.

c. Neighbor: It does not matter to me really, but I feel like certain regions can be trusted more than others when they have experience growing the leaves than others, but usually really good teas are expensive and for someone who drinks a lot, I settle for what I can.

2. If you were presented with high quality premium oolong tea, what do you think makes it premium?

a. Mother: The taste and smell can tell me if it really is a high quality tea at first and I will have to taste it to see. I don’t care who it is from or their reputation, I have to like it for me to consider it premium

b. Sister: Cost. The more expensive, the more you know goes into it and the packaging verifying where and how it is made. Also good reviews solidifies the believe that it is premium.

c. Neighbor: Not really sure what exactly makes it premium, it can be any kind of quality that would make a company try to deem it premium. As long as it tastes good, I will drink it.

3. This tea can only be harvested in limited quantity at the highest mountain in Taiwan. The high altitude makes it naturally insect-free, unlike many other teas that claims to be organic. (Most government permits the labeling of organic as long it is 80% organic.) Will $50 price tag reasonable for such a product?

a. Mother: Depends on how much comes with that $50 price. Do I get a few tea bags? Or is by the pound? I make tea by putting it in the pot and straining it, so a pot can last me awhile, it depends on whether I feel like it, but with that price takes consideration

b. Sister: I expect nothing less because $50 makes sense for the highest quality of tea, so I would buy it and I will not be unreasonable to me

c. Neighbor: $50? No. That’s too much for me, I won’t spend more than $25 on tea and there are plenty that will probably taste as good as that organic tea anyway. It seems these days organic is not really organic anyhoo.

4. When selecting Oolong tea, what comes to mind that is important for you?

a. Mother: Just the smell and overall quality is important to me, I just do not want to waste my money on something that will not benefit me or that I will have to waste because I will not drink it

b. Sister: Just the overall quality of the tea, I expect to get what I paid for, so I will not drink cheap teas that give me no health benefits and will end up harming me or doing nothing

c. Neighbor: That my money is benefiting nothing, I want to drink a tea that will help my health and benefit me, so if the tea is expensive and does not taste good or the quality is bad, then what is the point of drinking it?

5. What is your biggest concern or fear when selecting premium teas?

a. Mother: That I spend too much money for a product that does not taste good or seems cheap

b. Sister: If my tea does not live up to the expectation I paid for in terms of good taste and quality

c. Neighbor: Wasting my money on what is described as a luxury tea when there is nothing luxurious about it

6. What would make you trust an oolong tea brand?

a. Mother: When I talk to my friends and they use it as well, I am not usually trying a random tea first, as long as I know it has a good reputation for being good

b. Sister: If it’s a luxurious brand, it is considered luxury for a reason, so my parents always opt for good brands, but I prefer more expensives ones

c. Neighbor: It’s hard to trust one at first, but If i read the packaging and it seems like they have good quality, then I will try it.Otherwise, I will not go for it if it costs too much or too little to be true

7. When it comes to taste, what do you prefer in your tea selection?

a. Mother: Fragrant ones, ones that smell fresh and taste like it too

b. Sister: Expensive taste, so great quality, teas when steeped that don’t taste like chemicals

c. Neighbor: Earthy tastes so I know it is good quality tea and it needs to have a strong smell as well

8. Oolong is renowned for its many micronutrient and antioxidants benefits, Do you think Oolong has personally made you feel healthier? In what areas, and how so?

a. Mother: Yes, all the teas I drink have brought me better benefits. Oolong keeps me more vibrant and awake, I feel well overall.

b. Sister: My mom likes it because it helps with energy and metabolism, so I drink it for those reasons also because it has a lot of minerals and antioxidants, more than other teas

c. Neighbor: I like it because it boosts your metabolism and can help aide in weight loss. I have knee problems because of inflammation and my herbalist told me that it helps with inflammation

9. What makes you be a loyal customer to a particular oolong brand?

a. Mother: I am not loyal to a specific one, but I usually just use whatever I find at stores for availability and I’ll purchase it again if it tastes good.

b. Sister: Teavana in my local mall has good teas, so I just buy those because they are wildly popular and they taste so good to me

c. Neighbor: There’s a really good brand called Prince of Peace and many of my friends use it, it has many tea bags and it is easy to use. I like it because it tastes fresh and good, so I use it and it is very good cost wise.

10. How comfortable are you purchasing a premium tea? In-stores? Online? Why?

a. Mother: Not online, never. I feel like if it’s online like Amazon, it’s a random seller and they can pretend like the tea they are selling is real but it may be fake. In stores is better to trust or direct from the supplying stores.

b. Sister: I order stuff online all the time, so I do not mind. I don’t see a difference and online is cheaper, so I can buy either way, but mostly online

c. Neighbor: I do not trust online at all, I am not as familiar with online, so I would not know how anyways. I just go to a specialty store and buy it.

So based on the answers I got, I found that the responses really varied. Older generations like my mom and neighbor would not trust online at all while my sister would because she is younger and more familiar and can probably tell if an item would be fake. My sister preferred more expensive tea, but my mother and neighbor did not. The answers were interesting to hear from tea drinkers, they emphasized on taste and smell a lot and do not want to waste their money on something that will not deliver on their expectations. The answers from my neighbor really focused on benefit for dollar, not wanting to risk it if it will not be good. My mother’s answers varied on being willing to spend a few dollars more, as long as she will be confident that the tea will give her health benefits. My sister’s answers focused on expense, not caring if she spent a lot on tea as long as it felt and tasted expensive to her, so it was more of the overall experience for her. The overall results were beneficial in learning how different tea drinkers think in terms of purchasing and trust.