Do Gender Differences Exist in Auto Buying?
According to the latest study conducted by Auto Retailing Today there are no differences in the male and female buying experience and the myth of gender differences has been debunked. Women it seems, are more confident than ever going into auto dealerships. Although they continue to shop with male counterparts, the majority (39%) do so mainly because the male is a spouse or significant other. Another 15% of those women surveyed stated that they brought a male to the dealership because he had more knowledge, hmmm . . .
It just seems to me, and I could be wrong (I have been before) that a lack of knowledge in and of itself would certainly attribute to a difference in experiences. Wouldn’t that be like, Honey, I like this one, now you deal with the rest? I personally believe that the disparity in knowledge is a major key to the inbalance, automatically placing women on unequal ground which pretty much guarantees a different experience. Why? Because that means that he knows something that the woman doesn’t. And isn’t that really the overriding point anyway? Women haven’t had the same knowledge or interest in car buying and maintenance that men have had, propelling the myths and stereotypes: Auto industry =male = You know something I don’t, namely how the financing works, what the lingo means, and what the true retail, trade-in, and manufacturer’s values are.
I’m excited about this study because women are and have become more empowered when it comes to their automotive needs. But I’m not fooled, either. A happy, confident 932 women is hardly the same as the thousands that are buying cars today. It is not even close to the reality of the anomalies at hand. Regularly I answer questions from women that are unsure, not comfortable, intimidated, and still just wondering how to co-exist in the male dominated arena of car buying. Listen guys (auto industry) this is not a knock in the jaw. Really it isn’t. It’s just a genuine female assessment and perception of the situation at hand.
The survey also reported that although women tend to do research prior to coming into a dealership, only 21% research financing options. Numbers, numbers, numbers, in the long run that’s what it all boils down to and financing is one of the biggest areas in which women tend to feel less assured.
So to answer the question at hand, Do Gender Differences Exist in Auto Buying? I want to say that there are still some differences; I want to say that women shop differently and I want to say that women still have a deficit in automotive knowledge. But I also want to say that things are moving forward, for both women and the industry. Hooray for that!
