Are Media has released the findings of its inaugural Herpulse Auto survey of Australian women, revealing 80 per cent of women say they are not adequately represented in car advertising.
The survey found that despite women feeling confident and capable when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle, they are not seeing themselves reflected in car marketing.
The study asked 736 women aged 25 to 64 a broad range of questions about women’s attitudes surrounding the vehicle-purchasing process.
Only one in three women (35 per cent) said they found auto ads persuasive when it comes to deciding which brands to consider before purchasing. Eight in ten (80 per cent) said they are not represented in car advertising, and only a quarter (28 per cent) said the marketing was relevant to them and reflected their life and family.
When it comes to environmental concerns, the survey found the debate around the future of petrol-powered vehicles is having an increasing impact, with almost half (43 per cent) saying they were likely to purchase hybrid and just over a third (35 per cent) electric.
However, almost half (47 per cent) also said they were unclear of the benefits of an electric car over a hybrid or petrol vehicle.
Nat Bettini, research director at Are Media, said that while car manufacturers recognise the role women play when it comes to purchase consideration, it’s evident that more needs to be done to ensure they and their lives are better reflected in marketing.
“She rates functional factors such as price, practicality, running costs, safety and size highest in importance when purchasing a car,” she said.
“Having said that, brand is also still important to her, with six in 10 agreeing a car brand should have specific values that they stand for, and over half saying that a car brand needs to have values in alignment with their own.”
The HERpulse survey found the most trusted source of information when deciding what car to buy is word-of-mouth (78 per cent), followed by online articles and reviews from women, while a quarter quoted magazine brands as being a reliable and credible source.
