by Joe Jeffrey
37 per cent of new car purchases are influenced by kids, survey reveals
We don’t know about you, but when we here at CaravanTimes were kids we’d be lucky if we could influence our parents into switching television channels, let alone choosing their next car purchase. But now, all that seems to have changed if the results of a new survey from Auto Trader are anything to go by.
More than a third of parents (37 per cent) have claimed that children are a key influence when deciding which car to buy next.
Results of the survey have also revealed that more than three quarters of parents (78 per cent) claim that having kids forced them into buying a new car.
Pooling the views of 1,000 parents and children aged between five and 11 years, the key findings came when, in August, Auto Trader asked parents and children about what they looked for in their perfect family car – and to what extent children influenced their parents’ buying decision.
Findings of the survey certainly point to a number of differences in the success of pester power though, with more than half of Londoners, (55 per cent), saying they are more likely to be influenced by their children. Compare that to just 24 per cent in the North East and maybe it’s true what they say about southern softies.
When it comes to the sexes, the research suggests dads should probably be the target of lobbying, as 39 per cent of dads said they were open to influence compared with 33 per cent of mums.
“A substantial amount of research has been done looking at how the decision of the car buyer can be influenced and at what stage in the buying journey,” commented Nathan Coe of Auto Trader, “but few have really considered the role that children play, or the influence of pester power. If one of the kids doesn’t like the shape or colour of your next car, or it doesn’t come with plug-in for an i-Pad, then you’d better be prepared for some serious pestering!”
It might be said that kids are becoming more influential over our car purchases, but only to an extent. Overall, colour is the most likely area for successful persuasion by children, with 26 per cent influencing their parents’ choice of colour. Children are most likely to push for red (28 per cent), followed by blue (21 per cent), black (14 cent) and pink (13 per cent). Perhaps unsurprisingly, boys tend to favour red cars (28 per cent v 23 per cent) and girls preferred pink (26 cent v one per cent). However, only two per cent said they’d prefer a white car, despite white being the most popular new car colour, according to SMMT new car sales data.
It’s not all about colour though, and children also influenced a number of other factors, including comfort (13 per cent), size (12 per cent) and design, clocking up 12 per cent – after all, no one wants to be laughed at after being dropped off at the school gates, right?
Unsurprisingly, safety came top of the list when it came to the parents having their say, with 27 per cent agreeing this was the main contributing factor.
On a lighter note, however, kids also provided an interesting take on what their top ten wish list for their parents’ next car was, including turbo buttons, flame fuelled exhausts and ejector seats, decisions perhaps indicative of the Batmobile being considered the most popular car by those kids surveyed.
What do you think of the results of this survey? Have you ever made – or would you make – a car buying decision based upon your little nippers? Check out Auto Trader’s video below and let us know.
