Car Buying Behaviours and the Celebrity Factor
Buying a car can be hard enough; do I want a hatchback, saloon,
4-door, 2-door, convertible, four-wheel drive? How much can I
afford to pay for insurance? Furthermore, being given the hard
sell in the dealership showroom can add more pressure. However,
do we need the hard sell or have we already subconsciously made
a decision on the car we would like to buy?
Studies have shown that many customers do not need the hard
sell, but instead just a picture to show off the features of the
car. We've all probably seen an advert on television or a
picture in a magazine or newspaper, which has made us look at
the car and want to have one on the spot! Obviously, it aids the
customer if the picture is of something sleek and stylish rather
than a rust-bucket, which is why the desirability of vehicles
such as a sporty hatchback is high.
Manufacturers are clever in the way that they'll do this. You'll
notice on more occasions than not with car adverts that the
price provided is not for the car you are seeing. The picture of
the car will be the top of the range version with all of the
possible extras, but in fact the price you'll be told is the
"starting from" price for the lowest car in its' range. The
price for the actual car you are viewing will usually be in
small print at the bottom of the advert.
Do, however, the roles of celebrities come into play in
persuading us to purchase a certain make or type of car? I
believe that they do.
Take a look at the BMW X5 for example. Since the release of this
car, every celebrity and their dog have one. I believe as a
consequence of this, the amount of non-celebrities driving this
car has risen dramatically. The same can be said for a few cars,
which brings the assumption that we, to some extent, base our
lifestyles on celebrities, who influence us to purchase cars
that are deemed fashionable and popular by them.
The bases for buying a certain car by many will be "will my
friends laugh at me?" and "will I look cool in it?". After all,
the technological strides of manufacturers recently have meant
that the reliability and performance of vehicles is very good,
and certainly more than adequate for most drivers using city and
country roads. So what else can there be to influence the
decision of car buyers other than the "cool" factor?
Maybe, the running costs and fuel consumption is prominent
somewhat; especially for the four-wheel drive and high
performance vehicles. However, the celebrity power has certainly
persuaded many in their car buying decisions, and will almost
definitely continue to do so.