1996 National Study Supplement
Management White Paper

Safety Features, Options and Accessories

April, 1996

Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Safety Features
• Options and Accessories

Introduction  Top

This 1996 Management White Paper is being provided by The Dohring Company as a supplement to our 1996 National Automotive Consumer Study.

The national study, provided as a service to the automotive industry, focused on the most topical issues of the day including:

• Consumer attitudes and perceptions of franchised car dealerships
• One-price selling versus negotiating the purchase
• Purchasing new vehicles versus late model used vehicles
• Used car superstores

This white paper is intended to provide in-depth answers to help you better understand the consumer perspective on specific issues.

The national study has not been funded by any outside source and is strictly provided as a service. The design intention was to address several primary areas of importance to our automotive, OEM supplier and dealer client base.

The Dohring Company is North America's largest provider of custom market research to the retail automotive community. We have conducted more that 3,000 automotive market research studies for dealers, dealer associations, advertising agencies, manufacturers and suppliers in North America and internationally. The company, based in Glendale, California, employs over 100 full time staff and has conducted over 300,000 interviews with vehicle buyers in 1995 alone, and over one million in the past ten years.

Additionally, we are proud to have been designated Marketing Research Supplier to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

The Dohring Company is a full-service provider of marketing research and the developer of TrendTrak®, our exclusive on-site survey polling device. For additional information, please contact us at 1-800-242-8022.

Methodology  Top

A total of 1,253 respondents were surveyed from across the 50 United States in proportion to their household populations. All respondents were surveyed by telephone during December 1995, and were qualified as intending to purchase a new or used vehicle in the future from a new car dealership. The study has a standard error of ± 2.8%.

Safety Features  Top

All respondents were asked to rate the importance of the following safety features in their decision to purchase their next vehicle:

• Driver and passenger air bags
• Side impact air bags
• Antilock brakes
• Traction control
• Crush/crumple zones
• Automatic 911 calling system
• Electronic collision detection system

For analytical purposes, "very important" was assigned the value 4.0, "important" was assigned the value 3.0, "only somewhat important" was assigned the value 2.0 and "not at all important" was assigned the value 1.0 and a mean score was calculated and following were the results:

Importance of safety features in next vehicle purchase:

Separating those who intend to purchase vehicles of Domestic makes vs. Japanese or European nameplates, those who intent to purchase European nameplates place greater importance on driver, passenger and side impact air bags, antilock brakes and crush/crumple zones than those who intend to purchase Domestics or Japanese nameplates. Those who intend to purchase Japanese nameplates placed more importance on the electronics, such as automatic 911 calling and electronic collision detection than the other buyers.

Importance of safety features in next vehicle purchase:

Breaking these down further by the type of vehicle they intend to purchase next, future sport utility buyers rated driver, passenger and side impact airbags, antilock brakes, traction control and electronic collision detection more important than the future car, minivan or truck buyers.

Importance of safety features in next vehicle purchase:

When comparing the importance of these safety features across age categories and by gender, females nearly always considered these safety features more important than males. Thus it is very important how the auto makers and dealers position such safety features for females in their advertising and during the selling process.

Options and Accessories  Top

All respondents were asked to rate the importance of the following vehicle options and accessories in their decision to purchase their next vehicle:

For analytical purposes, "very important" was assigned the value 4.0, "important" was assigned the value 3.0, "only somewhat important" was assigned the value 2.0 and "not at all important" was assigned the value 1.0 and a mean score was calculated and following were the results:

Importance of vehicle options and accessories in next vehicle purchase:

Separating those who intend to purchase vehicles of Domestic makes vs. Japanese or European nameplates, those who intend to purchase European nameplates place greater importance on all but the computerized map and positioning system than those who intend to purchase Domestics or Japanese nameplates. And, future purchasers of European nameplates placed much more importance on power door locks, windows and seats and on leather upholstery than those who intend to purchase Domestics or Japanese nameplates.

Importance of options in next vehicle purchase:

Breaking these down further by the type of vehicle they intend to purchase next, future sport utility buyers rated most of these options and accessories more important than the future car, minivan or truck buyers. Thus, sport utility vehicles outfitted with many of these options are likely to be strong sellers in the future.

Importance of options in next vehicle purchase:

When comparing the importance of these options and accessories across age categories and by gender, females considered air conditioning, power door locks, and power seats more important than males did. Males considered cruise control more important than females did. Older buyers considered power windows and power seats more important than younger buyers. And younger buyers considered anti-theft devices, CD players, a computerized map and positioning system and a sunroof more important than did older buyers.