When it comes time to buy a used car, you may think you are immune to marketing and advertising techniques. However, the reality is that marketing plays a significant role in shaping your perceptions, opinions, and, ultimately, your purchase decision. Today, we will look at some of the key ways that marketing and advertising influence your choice when buying a second-hand vehicle. Understanding these factors can help you make a more informed decision.
The Power of Branding
One of the most influential marketing factors is branding. Major automotive brands like Ford, Vauxhall, and Volkswagen spend enormous sums on advertising and marketing to build up positive brand images. This shapes your views on different car makes and models.
Strong branding links certain brands with qualities like reliability, safety, prestige, and so on. So, you may be drawn to cars of a certain brand because of the associations you have from their marketing efforts. Branding creates an emotional connection that goes beyond just evaluating objective product specs and features.
The Impact of Dealership Marketing
Beyond specific car brands, local car dealership marketing also influences used car buyers. Dealers build trust and recognition in your area through advertising and community engagement. This establishes them as a reliable place to buy a used car. Their marketing depicts them as friendly, convenient, and trustworthy.
For example, large dealership groups in Essex may advertise across the area to promote local car sales in Essex and build widespread regional awareness. Or independent dealers may focus marketing efforts hyper-locally to attract customers in their town. Either way, dealership marketing makes an impression on your choice.
Dealership marketing highlights services like quality inspections, warranties, financing options and more. This portrays added value beyond just the vehicles themselves. Marketing creates confidence in the dealership and builds preference among local customers. So, consumers gravitate towards dealers they know and trust from effective marketing.
Driving Trends and Perceptions
Automotive advertising also helps drive perceptions, opinions, and trends that inform your purchase of a used car. Advertisements stress desirable features such as fuel efficiency, safety technology, interior roominess, and the like. This creates a consensus on what specifications are the most relevant. It also reinforces stereotypes about brands or models.
For example, marketing for SUVs and crossovers focuses on their size, practicality, and off-road capabilities. Hatchback and city car advertising focuses on efficiency and maneuverability. Marketing plays a role in whether you perceive certain body styles as sporty, upscale, rugged, and so on. It taps into aspirational qualities that consumers want to be associated with.
Most people who have purchased a secondhand car feel that they were not susceptible to marketing. The reality, though, is quite different. Advertising and branding have very deep impacts on perception and purchasing decisions brand associations and dealership marketing to shaping wider trends and stereotypes, and marketing infiltrates the choices you make. Being aware of these effects can help you make a more informed decision in buying a used car based on objective factors rather than just responses to marketing.