Democrats vs. Republicans - Political affiliation and car buying trends

Aside from disagreeing on political issues, Democrats and Republicans also differ with regard to car buying tendencies according to a new Strategic Vision study.

Ever wonder if political affiliation has any relation to car buying preferences? Well, answers to this question and more are now available thanks to a two-year study performed by Strategic Vision. In order to hone in on the relation between party associations and car buying tendencies, Strategic Vision utilized a large sample base and also gathered statements on over 440 automobile attributes.

"Understanding where the consumer market stands on politics is just one of the many different topics to focus on when looking into the complexities of the buyer's decision-making process. When an industry is up against a struggling economy in a competitive market, having that one last ounce of key and leverageable information on what is important to buyers can finalize their decision," said Darrel Edwards, Ph.D., Executive Chairman and Founder of Strategic Vision.

A cursory view of Strategic Vision’s findings demonstrates some interesting data. First off, statistics show that Republicans slightly edge out Democrats in regard to the new buyers category (37 percent to 31 percent). Although there is just a six percent difference in new vehicle purchases, figures become much more one sided when specific segments are examined. This fact is most evident with convertible purchases, which is dominated by Republicans with 69 percent. Statistics also illustrate that Republicans out purchase Democrats in Luxury Sedan purchases 49 percent to 27 percent. While Republicans favor Luxury Sedans, Democrats prefer Luxury “Multi-Function” vehicles (37 percent to 30 percent). Democrats actually out buy their Republican counterparts in Multi-Function (station wagons, hatchbacks) across the board.

As for the most popular cars amongst Democrats and Republican, the data is as follows:

Republicans

1. Ford Mustang Convertible
2. Audi A8
3. Mercedes GL
4. Ford Expedition
5. Ford F-150

Democrats

1. Honda Civic Hybrid
2. Volvo C30
3. Nissan Leaf
4. Acura TSX Wagon
5. Ford Fiesta Sedan

Aside from Democratic and Republican buyers, Strategic Vision also looked at other political affiliations including Libertarian and Tea Party members. In fact, SV discovered that Libertarians made up the youngest car buying demographic with a median age of 48 years old.

Interestingly, the study also looked ValuedCentered® emotions amongst party lines. Although many personal values are universal, Strategic Value found some interesting data to point to distinct emotional differences between Democrats and Republicans. For example, Republicans were 5 percent more likely to feel secure and personally safe in their emotions compared to Democrats. Democrats, on the other hand, were 4 percent more likely to view themselves as smart. In particular, 7 percent more Democrats studied possessed a Post-Graduate degree over Republicans.

Strategic Vision is a research-based group with 35 years of experience in examining consumer decision-making systems for a variety of Fortune 100 clients, including automotive, customer service, government and politics, medicine and healthcare, organizational and jury, travel and leisure, food and beverages, and education.

Click HERE for the entire list of most popular vehicle segments amongst Democrats and Republicans.

Source: Strategic Vision

Photo: Chevrolet