8/10 women not adequately represented in car marketing, Are Media survey reveals
Are Media has released the findings of its inaugural Herpulse Auto survey of Australian women revealing that 80% of women say they are not adequately represented in car advertising.
Nat Bettini, research director at Are Media, said: “Car manufacturers recognise the role women play when it comes to purchase consideration. They are highly engaged and make informed purchase decisions by drawing on a range of sources, but it’s evident that more needs to be done to ensure they and their lives are better reflected in marketing.”
One in three women (35%) said they found auto ads persuasive when it comes to deciding which brands to consider before purchasing, while eight in ten (80%) said they are not represented in car advertising and only a quarter (28%) said the marketing was relevant to them, and reflected their life and family.
When it comes to environmental concerns, the debate around the future of petrol-powered vehicles is having an increasing impact, with almost half (43%) saying they were likely to purchase hybrid and just over a third (35%) electric.
However, almost half (47%) also said they were unclear of the benefits of an electric car, over a hybrid or petrol vehicle.
The inaugural Herpulse Auto survey asked 736 women aged 25 to 64 a broad range of questions about women’s attitudes surrounding the vehicle-purchasing process.
It also found the most trusted source of information when deciding what car to buy is word-of-mouth (78%), followed by online articles and reviews from women, while a quarter quoted magazine brands as being a reliable and credible source.
“She rates functional factors such as price, practicality, running costs, safety and size highest in importance when purchasing a car, Bettini said. “Having said that, brand is also still important to her, with six in ten 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.”
Andrew Cook, director of sales at Are Media concluded: “We continue to provide our partners with valuable, future-focused insights on what Australian women are thinking, and having worked with a number of major car brands to develop engaging campaigns for women, our commercial team understands how best to market to them.”