Profiling for profits ... it's a motor-culture good thing

Walmart - Link & Image Credit: Cool Aggregator

Profiling for profits ... it's a motor culture good thing

A just released study of consumer brands and automotive brands sold in the United States provides in-depth information on the relationships existing between new vehicle buyers and twenty-seven consumer brands. This information gives insight not only into who is buying the consumer brands, but what is important to them, what other brands are cross-shopped and how it all plays into their automotive brand preferences.

Auto manufacturers and suppliers use the AutoPacific Consumer Brand Study to better understand the target audience for the buyers of their vehicles. Consumer brands use the study to identify target markets and the mindset of the buyers attracted to their brand. In addition to US Automotive brands, the following 27 brands are analyzed: Target, Coca Cola, Old Navy, Levi’s, Walmart, Apple, Gap, Polo, Home Depot, HP (Hewlett-Packard), Louis Vuitton, IKEA, Lowe’s, TJ Maxx, Hugo Boss, Method, Trader Joe’s, Gucci, Costco, Axe, Whole Foods, Starbucks, LG (not cell phone), McDonalds, H&M, REI, and Sony.

The 2010 Porsche Panamera - Challenging the Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Coupe for its Division Heavyweight Title is the Porsche Panamera S, the Panamera’s base model. Weighing in at $127,000, the rookie contender Panamera S is knocked out in the first round by the Mercedes-Benz CLS550’s cool $69,825 price tag. Rallying for round two, the Panamera S offers a sizable counter attack with a 4.8-L naturally aspirated V8 engine, 400-hp, and an acceleration rate of 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. The CLS550 matches the Panamera S’s efforts with a 5.5-liter V8 engine and 7-sp automatic transmission, but is ultimately out-performed with its paltry 382-hp. Caption & Image Credit: RideLust

This study highlights that one won’t likely find many Porsches parked in front of Walmart, for example. Only one in 17 Walmart Shoppers will even consider a Porsche. On the other hand one in six REI shoppers will consider a Porsche. A Generation Y new vehicle buyer is much more likely to also purchase an Apple product – computer, iPod, and iPhone than older new vehicle buyers. Shoppers at H&M – a trendy “cheap-chic” clothier – are much more into their vehicle’s image than their vehicle’s power and acceleration. Trader Joe’s customers are more likely to drive an Audi, BMW or Volvo.

“Our research indicates that American car buyers have dramatically different buying profiles for consumer brands. Selection of a consumer brand and selection of a vehicle brand and type are heavily tied together. The parking lot at Whole Foods is a lot different from the one at Walmart,” notes George Peterson, President of AutoPacific to LA Motor Culture Examiner.

“Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s are cornerstone American brands that most people visit at least occasionally. The buyer profiles for these brands parallel new vehicle buyers nationally. It’s when you get to brands with more niche appeal like Apple, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, not to mention REI and H&M, where things get really different. Each consumer brand has a very distinctive footprint in types of consumers, factors important to them, vehicles owned and the ones they’ll consider next time.”

AutoPacific’s Consumer Brand Study is based on the results of AutoPacific’s annual survey of over 32,000 new car and light truck buyers in the United States. The study closely looks at recent buyers of new cars and light trucks and how they relate to twenty-seven consumer brands from Walmart to Louis Vuitton.
(ht: Dan Hall, AutoPacific)

... notes from The EDJE