Who's Winning Among African American Customers?
Strategic Vision , Dec, 2005
Are certain new vehicles addressing cultural distinctions, and why are Nissan product ratings high among African American new car buyers? Pride and individuality are key aspects. Certainly building well designed, high quality, and capable vehicles—at the most discounted price—sells, but it doesn’t end there. African Americans who are potential new vehicle buyers have expectations and needs that are similar to the industry, but they clearly show a distinctive emotional profile on key aspects of the “super values” (Security, Freedom, Esteem, and Balance), that make up the experience owners have with their vehicles. Super values define the largest clusters of values and emotions identified by Dr. Darrel Edwards, founder of Strategic Vision, from the initial 752,284 respondents who completed our worldwide survey on values, emotions and behavior. The overall clusters have been validated against 1.6 million respondents worldwide. There are strengths at two levels: overall positions like Freedom and Esteem and within the super value clusters where the distinctive patterns of specific values and emotions are found. The African American profiles are taken from the syndicated Vehicle Experience Study (VES™) completed by Strategic Vision each year in the automotive industry. Possession of these emotions and values are not exclusive to African Americans, but are distinctive in the strength or magnitude of their importance. The following chart on Personal Perceptions illustrates the differences in magnitude:
African Americans who completed Strategic Vision’s questionnaire see themselves as very successful and highly motivated. They have a strong desire for personal power and ability to choose, but are careful about trusting others – similar to the population of new vehicle buyers. They see themselves as strong individuals, who demand being recognized as such. African American new vehicle buyers have a strong since of self-esteem. All of these emotional values are components of all new vehicle buyers, but are exceptionally prominent among African Americans. Brands such as Nissan (particularly Altima) deliver to these prominent self-perceptions and needs. The data that immediately follows is from Strategic Vision’s 2005 full-year VES:
Ten most purchased brands by African Americans: |
Nissan |
12.5% |
Chevrolet |
11.6% |
Toyota |
9.5% |
Ford |
9.2% |
Chrysler |
7.7% |
Honda |
5.3% |
Dodge |
4.4% |
Hyundai |
3.8% |
Cadillac |
3.3% |
GMC |
3.2% |
Ten most purchased models by African Americans: |
Nissan Altima |
5.2% |
Chrysler 300 |
3.3% |
Ford F-Series (F-150) |
2.5% |
Toyota Corolla |
2.3% |
Toyota Camry |
2.1% |
Honda Accord Sedan |
2.1% |
Chevrolet Trailblazer |
1.8% |
Dodge Ram 1500 |
1.8% |
Ford Explorer |
1.8% |
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 |
1.8% |
Although automotive brands vary in their success with ethnic groups, it’s clear that some provide products and communication resulting in higher ratings among specific ethnicities. One such rating is Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index (TQI). For 14 years, Strategic Vision has been providing a syndicated Vehicle Experience Study (VES™) to the automotive industry.
The VES™ is the most comprehensive study in the industry in that it captures a data set including both the history, behavior and attribute ratings of 506 primary, secondary and tertiary attributes of the customers. In addition, it measures the emotional responses, perceptions, consideration factors, intentions, customer delight, and a number of other key indicators and aspects of experience reported by the over 1.4 million new car buyers who have completed the survey since its initiation in 1997. The owners have their vehicles at least three months before they are measured. This interval is an industry standard used by all major syndicated studies.
In order to assure highly reliable results, Strategic Vision created a three year (2003, 2004, and 2005) data sub-set of over 13,000 African American new vehicle buyers, including their emotional responses and the comprehensive measure of their experience with their vehicles after the three month period. The Total Quality Index (TQI™) captures the more complete experience the buyer has with his or her vehicle including both rational and emotional aspects.
The index calculates the owners’ responses to product attributes and the emotions that the experience creates and transforms the responses to a 1000 point scale for comparisons. Following is an array of TQI™ scores that ranks models among African American buyers:
Strongest Models Among African American New Car Buyers: 2003-2005 |
Category |
Best-of-the-Best in Total Quality |
TQI |
Small Car |
Honda Civic |
883 |
Medium & Large Car |
Nissan Altima |
893 |
Luxury Car |
Mercedes E-Class |
922 |
Pickup Truck |
Nissan Titan |
872 |
Minivan |
Dodge Caravan |
868 |
Small SUV |
Nissan Murano |
905 |
Medium & Large SUV |
Nissan Armada |
893 |
Luxury SUV |
Cadillac SRX |
920 |
Strategic Vision’s TQI™ provides specific directions to those who wish to sell more vehicles to African Americans. The scores are directly influenced by the ability of the manufacturer and dealer to satisfy their needs and desires. When African Americans report that they “are proud” and “see themselves as strong individuals,” brands who respond appropriately will sell more cars. Dealers need to listen.more..>
