Sales Psychology: Reasons People Buy Cars

"On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha.
You can listen to the engine moaning out its one note song
You can think about a woman,
or the girl you knew the night before,
But your thoughts will soon be wandering,
the way they always do.
When you're riding sixteen hours
and there's nothing much to do"

Bob Seeger, Turn the Page

The Utility Rationale

The utility of our automotive transportation system is a borderline miracle.

Speeding west on I-80 past the Great Salt Lake, as I did hundreds of times, I was often reminded of animal-powered wagon trains of the past struggling to make the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains before the snows. With a 550 horsepower diesel under my right foot, and 22 tons of California-bound frozen food behind, we'd climb almost effortlessly up the ridge.

Lonesome solo truckers always say "we"; Freightliner, Smith and Wesson, and me.

As we crested the California mountain, I'd listen to good ol' Bob Seeger on my XM satellite radio, adjust my climate-control, add a little air pressure to my power lumbar support, and look down at the lake where the snowbound Donner Party resorted to cannibalism in the winter of 1846–47.

Today, cars have become indispensable, something we take for granted. We believe we are buying a car for the utilitarian miracle: it takes us to work.

Almost without thinking, we use automobiles to cross blazing deserts and frozen mountaintops, obstacles where death awaited our ancestors.

But with fuel and environmental issues mounting, the miracle could be better accomplished by mass transit, even by rail technology of the past.

I say the utilitarian miracle ended around the time of the (1932) Model A Ford. Today cars are as much a fashion statement as they are a transportation utility.

After almost 100 years, we are stuck with a system which resists evolution, looking backwards.

Yet we still buy what are essentially the same old cars.

So why do humans buy cars?

What Makes Us Buy?

So what are the real reasons people buy cars? Experienced car salesmen know the underlying psychology of the car sale as the majority of customers never will.

People, even those emerging from peasantry in China, buy cars for emotional/psychological reasons. Studies have repeatedly shown that we make purchases based on emotional triggers and then rationalize ourselves around to believing in the deal.

Mass marketing of cars relies on million dollar ad campaigns to drive sales psychology, providing us with reasons to "need" another car.

Many of these ad images reach the subconscious mind, associating the product with primal fantasies buried there.

Today's "luxury" cars, with ever increasing complexity and subtlety, provide clues to social rank, a pecking order. We buy these cars, not for crossing Donner Pass, but for keeping up with the Joneses.

We are bombarded with commercials depicting superhero status as a reward for buying a decidedly non-utilitarian "utility vehicle." These Town Car derivative sleds are shown scrambling to the tops of mountains, spraying computer generated 10-inch boulders from their city-type low profile tires. Or worse, crossing the trackless arctic at 60 mph, with snow spraying from decidedly street type rims and tires. Sail on, silver bird.

Reality Check

Every winter, there is an ice storm or blizzard depicted as a natural disaster by the media. They air clips of vehicles struggling to stay on slippery pavement, showing wheels spinning and phenomenal driver incompetence. Very often the struggling cars are luxury versions of "sport-utility" vehicles.

Hey look, a 2 wheel drive Jeep is stuck in five inches of snow. Yeah, but who cares when it has memory seats and bluetooth, so you can sit comfortably and call the tow truck hands-free.

Just about every winter, there is a news story about a family whose off road pretender SUV gets stuck in a blizzard.

Typically they run out of gas, get lost, or try to drive up a mountain into ever increasing drift depth. Totally unprepared for even mild outdoor conditions, the modern day Donner Party waits an average of 5 sub-zero nights in their car before the male finally starts for civilization.

Often he goes the wrong way, bushwacking uphill into the colder high altitude, when the road he just drove up leads to warmer climes and shelter.

Sorry, but I cannot find the utility in the contemporary Sport "Utility" Vehicle, with its clear-the-lane-here-I-come daytime running lights. Folks buying these high-margin barges are making a statement: "high status carriage."

Oh, you must be one of those tree-hugging hybrid driving greenies.

Well, let's consider the hybrid craze, led by Toyota's Prius. I admit hybrids are impressive when sitting in traffic with air conditioning blasting but no motor running.

It turns out that no money, and precious little fuel, is actually saved by the present crop of battery motivated cars. Long term environmental effects remain unevaluated: what are the consequences if millions of cars each needed thousands of pounds of nickel metal hydride batteries?

How toxic are they to dispose of? Where will the mines be?

Can Lithium-ion batteries really be mass produced without other toxic ingredients?

Never mind, the hydrogen highway is coming to save us. Any day now. Yep.

Honda, in my opinion the world technology leader in terms of green, has announced they are discontinuing the Accord Hybrid. Some say Prius is a loss leader marketing ploy, a green halo car.

So why do "greenies" pay more for these cars? To make a statement: greener-than-thou. Prius owners exhibit the highest owner loyalty of any vehicle.

People, green-neck or redneck, buy cars for emotional reasons, then justify the decision with rationality.

This makes us vulnerable to psyching tricks which have evolved for decades in auto sales. These schemes are a struggle for power, the victor reaps the spoils.

Accentuate the Positive

With the average new car going for just under $30K, salespersons are trained to keep the negative "price" stick hidden while the customer is focused on the carrot.

Sales psychology relies on a series of stereotypes: buyers are simultaneously qualified and categorized in the first few minutes. Sharp sales people don't need a credit score. They look at the buyers shoes and ask discreetly: "What are you driving now?

Features and benefits of the new hupmobile are to be emphasized. I bought two new cars in the late 1970's. At the first sale, a Chevy Chevette, the salesman cheerfully drew my attention to the little hatchback's cargo area.

"Just perfect for carrying a bushel of organic apples." He must have made me for a hippy.

A short time later I bought a Chrysler LeBaron, foolishly trading my mint 1969 Imperial. The salesman figured I was the luxury car type, so he called my attention to the simulated leather plastic roof.

"Just run your hand across that luxurious roof, feel that texture" he crooned. I started looking for Frank Sinatra, but he wasn't there, it was just me and a car salesman.

Probing for the buyer's objections to the sale, the deal-killing nagging emotional doubts, is a top skill. Overcoming these resistances and instilling a sense of urgency requires clever manipulation.

"If I could get you in this car for, say $20,000, would you buy it today?"

Studies in the psychology of persuasion have shown that giving a "reason" which sounds plausible will elicit compliance far more readily than just asking someone to do something.

"This is about to be required by law, and the lender prefers us to add it."

"Car Sales is 2% Economics and 98% Psychology"

Most people exhibit a very strong tendency to accept the decisions of those perceived to be an authority. This is where the "gotta consult my sales manager" scenario originated. The sales manager, sometimes in an office elevated above the showroom floor, is only indirectly confronted. "He's too busy selling cars to talk to you about buying one."

Research about authority reveals that people drastically underestimate how much the perception of authority influenced them. After obeying, they will say they were motivated to act spontaneously.

Perceptual contrast is used to move buyers toward a particular vehicle. An overpriced or otherwise repugnant offering is contrasted to the special of the week, with exactly the payments you specified. Realtors also use this trick, showing a couple ugly houses before they play their best card.

We are conditioned to feel uncomfortable if we receive a gift, concession, or favor that we have not returned. Psychologists call this the reciprocity norm.

I went out looking for a new pickup once, and was evenly divided between Ford and Dodge. As I walked out of the Dodge dealer, the sales manager came running, carrying balloons for my kids.

He was dressed impeccably, obviously a very important guy, but he took time out for children.

At the end of the day, I bought the Dodge. The ten cent balloons influenced a $20K purchase. Too late to fix that now.

Salespeople are taught to mirror our speech and body language, and claim similar background and interests, because we are easily persuaded by someone who seems to be just like us.

Another psych principle is consistency. We tend to make large commitments more easily after a smaller similar choice. This is why the "four-square" paper that salesmen use to calculate preliminary offers has a space for customers to initial. It usually says: "I will buy today if numbers are agreeable to both parties."

This initialing progresses to signing, then to submitting a check to show you're sincere in this lowball offer, then to a rush of signings in the finance office. Once we have committed to something large, additional items that are added to the bill are seen as insignificant.

Use the Force

Fear is the most powerful negative motivator, subconsciously controlling much of our thinking and behavior.

This is the reason the good-cop-bad-cop scenario has made it's way into car sales. Many "turn-over" sales routines are based on this: a series of tough negotiators ultimately leads to one who really seems to be on our side.

Properly timed, seriously inappropriate rudeness can be an effective sales tool.

This can be as simple as cutting short a conversation or turning to walk away and forcing the customer to either object or follow. Who is in control?

Fear of being left out can be an extremely powerful psychological motivator. The deal is made to seem like a short term opportunity: inventory is short on these high demand hotties, higher prices are always just around the corner. Whatever the "reason," the vehicle becomes more attractive when it looks like we can’t have it.

It's a Wild World

What a buyer thinks and feels about themself makes all the difference.

Another psych principle: individuals with more knowledge tend to have power in situations where that knowledge is important.

Self confidence and a refusal to cede control allow the strongest negotiating posture. This verbal and body language will communicate at a subconscious level.

"It ain't the size of the dog on the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

Confidence at the dealership, whether in the shop or the showroom, comes from doing your homework for months. An understanding of the car selling business at all levels, including the psychological, will provide countervailing power.

Whether it's a slippery sports car, luxo sedan, or plain Jane econobox, we can get the most utility and satisfaction for the money by knowing our true reasons for purchasing an automobile.