A case analysis - Exploring customer attitudes on BMW

Abstract

Giving the powerful means of branding and brand-based differentiation for creating and sustaining a competitive advantage especially in highly competitive markets such as the automobile market, this study explores brand attitudes of existing and potential customers towards the brand BMW. Moreover, this study analyzes the level and source of customer satisfaction as well as the level and source of customer loyalty of existing and potential customers. While this study considers five different factors for the degree of customer satisfaction, there is only one factor considered for the degree of brand loyalty. The factors considered for customer satisfaction are perceived customer service, perceived quality, perceived innovation, perceived technology and perceived price, while the factor considered for brand loyalty is customer satisfaction itself. The analysis of brand loyalty distinguishes between repurchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty, former being analyzed for existing customers and latter being analyzed for potential customers.

The results indicate that (1) BMW has a high level of awareness, both in recognition and recall, (2) the image of BMW is favorable, strong and relevant, and (3) BMW is mainly associated with performance and style by existing customers and status by potential customers. Despite these overall positive results, weaknesses were identified, that contain opportunities for BMW. The regression analysis indicated that there is a strong positive correlation between customer satisfaction and perceived customer service and perceived innovation for existing customers and a strong positive correlation between customer satisfaction and perceived customer service, perceived innovation and perceived price for potential customers. Furthermore, the regression analyses indicated that there is a strong positive correlation between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, both in form of repurchase as well as attitudinal loyalty.

Executive Summary

Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. More and more companies have come to the realization that one of their most valuable assets is the brand name associated with their products. Highly competitive markets like the automotive market make powerful brands essential to accomplishing growth. By using the underlying concept of brand equity, this paper investigates in which areas brand equity has been created for the brand BMW. Brand tools and knowledge structure of the brand BMW are uncovered using quantitative research methods. A survey was given to 151 current and potential customers and analyzed based on the brand equity framework. Furthermore, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty was tested using regression analysis. The researcher finds that the level of awareness in form of brand recognition is with quite high for potential customers, while a higher percentage recalls BMW from their memory as a luxury brand rather than a performance brand. These results indicate an overall high level of awareness for the brand. Furthermore, results showed a desire for owning a BMW. However, distinguished by gender, female potential customers show a higher desire for competitive brands for both, as a luxury as well as a performance brand, while male potential customers show surprisingly a higher desire for competitive brands when it comes to performance cars. The brand image of BMW is favourable and strong. BMW reflects mostly style, high quality, up-to-date engineering and high performance to a target audience of highly brand-aware individuals. Results showed that for the majority of existing as well as potential customers it is important that BMW shows the quality label “Made in Germany” since Germany is known for quality-engineering. Especially production in low-cost countries is linked negatively with lower quality and would lead to loss of the worthiness of the premium price perceived by customers.

Furthermore, the brand image is not only strong and favourable, but also relevant, since respondents consider a BMW a safe car.

The regression analysis showed that customer satisfaction is positively correlated with perceived customer service and perceived innovation for existing customers and with perceived customer service, perceived innovation and perceived price for potential customers. Furthermore, the regression analysis in form of repurchase loyalty as dependent variable for analysing loyalty for existing customers and attitudinal loyalty as the dependent variable for analysing loyalty for potential customers used customer satisfaction for both as the independent variable. Results of the second regression analyses show that repurchase as well as attitudinal loyalty is positively correlated with the level of customer satisfaction. However, customer satisfaction explains repurchase loyalty only by 59.10 percent, and attitudinal loyalty with an even lower percentage of 38.91 percent, which indicates that there must be other factors important to explain brand loyalty.

The survey indicates potential in targeting customer groups that are not or not primarily targeted by BMW yet, but are interested in the brand and have high buying potential in BMW’s products currently or in the near future. These groups include students and women, with students becoming part of the target market with the start of their careers, and women providing sales opportunities due to increasingly higher level of completed education as well as higher paid jobs compared to a decade ago. In order to not fall behind, BMW should invest in innovation and use the potential in optimizing the product line. Finally, BMW should carefully consider aspects of producing outside of Germany since it has potential to diminish the brand equity by diluting secondary associations.

Table of Contents

Lists of Appendices............................................................................................... vii Lists of Tables…................................................................................................… viii Lists of Figures....................................................................................................… ix Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………. xi

I. Introduction…………………………………………………..………….. 1 1.1 Objective of the Study.…………………………………………...….. 2 1.2 Purpose of the study…………………………………………………. 3

II. Background of Study……………………………………………………… 5

2.1 Conceptual Framework……………………….................................… 5 2.2 Theoretical Foundation………………………………………………. 6 2.3 Development of Research Questions………………………………… 13 2.4 Hypotheses Development……………………………………………. 14

III. Research Methodology..............……...................................................….. 17 3.1 Information Needs and Data Collection Methods…………………… 17 3.2 Development of Questionnaire…………………………….………… 20 3.3 Sample Design……………………………………………………….. 21

IV. Data Analysis and Findings….……………………………..….………… 25 4.1 Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………… 25 4.2 Results from Quantitative Research…………………………………. 28 4.3 Other Findings……………………………………………………….. 60

V. Conclusion………………………………………………………..……… 64 5.1 Discussion……………………………………………………………. 64 5.2 Limitation of Study…………………………………………………… 73 5.3 Future Research……………………………………………………….. 74

References................................................................................................................ 75 Appendices.……………………………….……………………………….……… 77

  List of Appendices  

Appendix A:  Survey Weiler (2004 )  77

Appendix B:  Customer-perceived target group of BMW.  81

Appendix C:  Customer awareness of car brands  82

Appendix :D  Driving experience of customers  84

Appendix E:  Customer brand associations towards BMW  85

Appendix F:  Customer-perceived uniqueness of BMW  86

Appendix G:  Customer-perceived superiority of BMW.  87

Appendix H:  Customer judgment of the brand BMW  88

Appendix I:  Desire of owning a car brand  89

Appendix J:  Sympathy towards BMW drivers  91

Appendix K:  Importance of German-made products for customers  92

Appendix L:  Feelings towards the BMW brand  93

Appendix M:  Customer-perceived price of BMW  94

Appendix N:  Customer-perceived factors for customer satisfaction  95

Appendix O:  Customer resonance towards BMW  96

Appendix P:  Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty  97

Appendix Q:  Regression Analysis for customer satisfaction  98

Appendix R:  Regression Analysis for brand loyalty  100

  List of Tables  

Table 1  : The world’s most valuable brands 2002  13

Table 2  : Distribution by gender  22

Table 3  : Distribution by age group  23

Table 4  : Distribution by marital status  23

Table 5  : Distribution by income  24

Table 6  : Distribution by highest education completed  24

Table 7  : Descriptive statistics for customer satisfaction of existing customers  25

Table 8  : Descriptive statistics for customer satisfaction of potential  

  Customers  26

Table 9  : Descriptive statistics for purchase loyalty of existing customers  27

Table 10  : Descriptive statistics for attitudinal loyalty of customers  28

Table 11  : Regression Analysis of customer satisfaction with all factors  

  Existing customers  54

Table 12  : Regression Analysis of customer satisfaction with significant  

  factors - Existing customers  55

Table 13  : Regression Analysis of customer satisfaction with all factors  

  Potential customers  56

Table 14  : Regression Analysis of customer satisfaction with significant  

  factors - Potential customers  57

Table 15  : Regression Analysis for repurchase loyalty - Existing customers  58

Table 16  : Regression Analysis for attitudinal loyalty - Potential customers  59

Table 17  : BMW Brand-Product Matrix  61

  List of Figures  

  Figure1 : Strategic groups within the world automobile industry  

  Figure 2 : Brand Equity Framework  

  Figure 3 : A model of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty towards  

  BMW  

  Figure 4 : Customer-perceived target group of BMW  

  Figure 5 : Recall of performance brands - Existing customers  

  Figure 6 : Recall of performance brands - Potential customers  

  Figure 7 : Recall of luxury brand - Existing customers  

  Figure 8 : Recall of luxury brand - Potential customers  

  Figure 9 : Brand recognition of BMW - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 10 : Associations towards BMW - Exiting customers  

  Figure 11 : Associations towards BMW - Potential customers  

  Figure 12 : Perceived uniqueness of BMW - Existing customers  

  Figure 13 : Perceived uniqueness of BMW - Potential customers  

  Figure 14 : Perceived superiority of BMW - Existing customers  

  Figure 15 : Perceived superiority of BMW - Potential customers  

  Figure 16 : Driving experience - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 17 : Customer judgments towards BMW - Existing and potential  

  Customers  

  Figure 18 : Consideration of owning a brand - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 19 : Desire for performance brand - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 20 : Desire for luxury brand - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 21 : Desire for performance brands by gender  

  Figure 22 : Desire for luxury brands by gender  

  Figure 23 : Sympathy towards BMW drivers - Existing customers  

  Figure 24 : Sympathy towards BMW drivers - Potential customers  

  Figure 25 : Importance of German-engineering for existing and potential  

  Customers  

  Figure 26 : Customer feelings - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 27 : Premium price for BMW - Existing customers  

  Figure 28 : Premium price for BMW - Potential customers  

  Figure 29 : Factors for customer satisfaction - Existing and potential  

  Customers  

  Figure 30 : Customer resonance - Existing and potential customers  

  Figure 31 : Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty - Existing and potential  

  Customers  

  Figure 32 : BMW brand hierarchy  

Acknowledgement

I would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Yooncheong Cho, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Hawaii Pacific University, for her opinions and guidance in completing this paper. I would also like to thank Mr. Dennis Short, General Manager and President at the BMW of Honolulu, Mr. Kevin Keppel, Sales Manager at the BMW of Honolulu, and Mr. Rocco Sciannameo, Pre-owned Sales Manager at the BMW Dealership in Honolulu, for giving me the opportunity of doing my survey at the BMW of Honolulu. Furthermore, I would like to thank Mr. David Rolf at Rolf Advertising and all the survey respondents for their support.

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I. Introduction

“Building a brand is both an art and a science. It is the strategic mix of focus and risk that gives a brand its meaning in people’s lives (Dolan, 2003)”. Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. Brand elements identify and differentiate the brand. However, many practicing managers refer to a brand as more than that. They define a brand in terms of having actually created a certain amount of awareness and reputation in the marketplace, which distinguishes a small brand from a big brand. Especially strong brands have a number of different types of intangible image associations that link customers emotionally to the brand. Prior research has explored differences in customer perception and evaluation of brands for example through investigating brand equity. More recent research has found out that customers differ not only in their perception of brands but also in how they relate to brands. This suggests that people sometimes even form a relationship with a specific brand (Aggarwal, 2004).

Branding and brand-based differentiation are powerful means for creating and sustaining competitive advantage (Aggarwal, 2004). Highly competitive markets like the automotive market make powerful, strong brands essential to accomplishing growth. According to Agarwal, Dahlhoff & Rao (2004), companies create brand equity by delivering quality products and by creating strong, unique and favorable brand associations. Customer loyalty, larger margins, brand extension opportunities, enhanced perceptions of product performance, and increased marketing effectiveness and efficiency among other things are possible benefits of building up brand equity.

This research paper will look at the brand BMW. BMW, which stands for “Bayerische Motoren Werke”, is a major European manufacturer of luxury cars. The headquarters of the

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multinational corporation BMW Group is in Munich, Germany. The company has built substantial brand equity over the years through the continuous branding efforts for high quality products. The luxury car category includes both traditional and functional luxury cars. U.S. manufacturers mainly produce traditional luxury cars, while functional luxury cars are represented primarily by European manufacturers such as BMW (Bernhardt & Kinnear, 1994). BMW has to face a high level of competition in the markets they are present. Direct competitors for BMW include luxury car manufacturers from Japan, the U.S., and other European countries. In the US, BMW’s biggest competitor brands are Ford, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick, and Chrysler. Japanese competitor brands include Lexus and Honda. Furthermore, BMW competes locally in Germany and globally with other European companies such as Mercedes Benz, Audi and Jaguar. 1.1 Objective of the Studies

The objective of this research paper is to find out attitudes of US consumers towards the brand BMW. Specifically, the objective is to uncover associations and attitudes of existing and potential customers towards the brand BMW. Furthermore, the objective of this study is to explore customer satisfaction and brand loyalty for existing customers, while to investigate willingness to purchase, expected satisfaction and attitudinal loyalty for potential customers. This paper will begin by introducing the concept of brand equity and what makes a strong brand. Furthermore, the researcher will discuss why building a strong brand equity is a competitive advantage in the marketplace, especially in highly competitive markets like the automotive markets.

First, this paper will explore each dimension that possibly contributes to building brand equity. These areas include the so-called brand tools, which consist of brand elements, marketing

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program and secondary associations, as well as the knowledge structure of the brand. The knowledge structure on the other hand includes brand awareness, brand image or also called brand associations, and brand attitudes. Some of the brand tools, and all areas of the knowledge structure of the brand BMW will be investigated from this study. Based on the findings from the survey, the objective is to find out the degree of customer satisfaction as well as the degree of customer loyalty. The degree of customer satisfaction of existing customers as well as the willingness of potential customers to purchase a BMW is used as criteria to measure the strength of the BMW brand equity. Statistical analysis, such as regression analysis will be used to measure the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. This form of analysis will uncover a possible correlation between the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty and independent variables like customer service, price, product performance, product design, customization or the company website.

These findings will be used to build an underlying basis for recommendations of how to manage the brand BMW over time and across geographic boundaries. The objective then will be how BMW can gain and sustain a competitive advantage within the automotive industry. The researcher will form suggestions and recommendations regarding potential adjustment to the current branding strategy of BMW in order to further strengthen the brand equity. 1.2 Research Purposes

The automobile market is at the maturity stage of the life cycle, locally and globally, due to an increased number of competitors from domestic and foreign markets. Furthermore, the automobile market is characterized by a low potential for market growth, but high sales and profit potential (Murtagh, 2004). The following figure demonstrates the positioning of auto manufacturers within a global context.

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Figure 1

Strategic Groups Within the World Automobile Industry (Murtagh, P. Dr., 2004)

The overall market can be organized in geographic as well as product segments as shown in previous figure 1. BMW belongs, as mentioned before, in the functional luxury car segment. This segment, or also called strategic group, is categorized through low product diversification but a relatively high geographical scope (Murtagh, 2003). Competitive forces and rivalry are high in each segment of the overall market. Car manufacturers are highly dependent on the moves of competitors. Additionally, cars are quite similar in terms of many product attributes, such as performance, price, exterior design etc. Therefore, car manufacturers have to distinguish their cars from competitors in form of developing cars that satisfy customer needs and wants. Over the past decade, marketers increasingly recognized the importance of building brand equity in order to accomplish growth and to gain a competitive advantage (Rao, Agarwal, & Dahlhoff). According to Aaker (1991), firms create brand equity by delivering quality products and by creating strong brand associations through appropriate communication and marketing strategies.

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In times of increasing competition as well as increasing bargaining power of customers within the automotive market, BMW has to make sure that the brand BMW stays on top of the game in terms of competitiveness. Based on this, the purpose of this research paper is to explore what the brand BMW represents to existing and potential customers as well as to measure customer satisfaction and customer brand loyalty on BMW as a player of the automotive industry. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to provide implications to the automobile industry and particularly to BMW on how to further build and sustain a strong brand equity. II. Background of Study 2.1 Conceptual Framework

Almost all previous studies of brand equity agree that consumers associate value added to a product or service with a particular brand name. Therefore, there are two aspects to brand equity. One aspect is from the viewpoint of the firm, which emphasizes brand related outcomes such as relative price and market share. The second aspect of brand equity appears to depend on psychological associations of customers with the brand. Several studies have suggested that these psychological associations with a brand name account for brand equity outcomes. Thus, branding efforts can create long-term benefits in form of brand equity through the customer responses they engender (Agarwal, Dahlhoff & Rao, 2004).

Furthermore, the importance of brand loyalty has been recognized in the marketing literature for the last decades. The brand equity outcomes such as greater market share and higher relative prices may also depend on various aspects of brand loyalty. For example, brandloyal consumers may be willing to pay more for a brand because they perceive some unique value in the brand that no alternative can provide. In addition, many studies suggest other loyalty-related outcomes such as greater resistance among loyal consumers to competitive

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strategies, because brand loyalty includes a degree of commitment in terms of unique value associated with the brand. Many researchers have also explored that customer satisfaction is a key determinant in customer’s decision to keep or discontinue a given product or service relationship, thus indicating the degree of loyalty. Customer satisfaction has been defined in many ways by many researchers over the years. Oliver (1996) defines satisfaction as “the consumer’s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided a pleasurable level of fulfillment.” Previous research acknowledged that customer satisfaction might have impact on variables such as price. However, the role that variables such as price, customer service, technology, innovation or quality play in the creation of customer satisfaction has not been explicitly considered. Furthermore, there is no previous study existing that shows the potential correlation between these variables and customer satisfaction specifically for the brand BMW. This study uses a framework that specifies how the variables mentioned above affect customer satisfaction and how, in turn, customer satisfaction influences the level of customer loyalty specifically for the brand BMW. 2.2 Theoretical Foundation

The value of a firm consists of both tangible and intangible assets. Strong brand equity as part of intangible assets represents the relationship between the company and its customers and can affect its future value (Agarwal, Dahlhoff & Rao, 2004). Brand equity is usually not listed on balance sheets, but can go further in determining success than technological breakthroughs by allowing the marketer to demand premium prices (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2004). Furthermore, a strong brand can help a company to enhance their sales through improved attitudes towards the brand.

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According to the brand equity framework, the power of a brand lies in the minds of consumers or customers and what they have experienced and learned about the brand over time (Keller, 2003). Brands shape customer decisions to purchase and create economic value. Based on previous research by McKinsey (1996), on the average, brands were responsible for 18 percent of total purchase decisions. Specifically within the car industry, the brand was the major influencing factor for 12 percent of purchases. Thus, building a strong brand can be a major competitive advantage.

The process of building brand equity can be thought of in terms of sequence of steps. There is an obvious ordering of four steps, which is from brand identity to brand meaning to brand responses and finally to brand relationships. Performing the four steps is a difficult process. To provide some structure, Keller (2003) suggests six brand building blocks with customers - salience, performance, imagery, judgments, feelings and resonance. Figure 2 shows the brand equity framework and significant paths within the framework.

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Figure 2

Brand Equity Framework (Keller, 2003)

Achieving the right brand identity involves creating brand salience with customers, which in turn relates to aspects of the awareness of the brand (Keller, 2003). A number of different types of associations that relate to either performance or imagery may become linked to the brand (Keller, 2003). The brand associations making up the brand image and meaning can be characterized and profiled according to three important dimensions - strength, favorability, and uniqueness - that provide the key to building brand equity (Keller, 2003). Brand judgments focus on customers’ personal opinions and evaluations with regard to the brand, while brand feelings are customers’ emotional responses and reactions with respect to the brand (Keller, 2003). Both

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relate to aspects of attitudes towards the brand. According to Keller (2993), the final step of the model focuses on brand resonance, which refers to the nature of the relationship and level of identification that the customer has with the brand.

The indirect approach to building brand equity is referred by Keller (2003) to as leveraging secondary brand knowledge for a brand. By making a connection between the brand and another entity, consumers may form a mental association from the brand to an entity, and to any associations, judgments, feelings, and the like linked to that entity. In the case of BMW the country of origin could be leveraged as a secondary association. Germany has become known for expertise in car manufacturing and engineering (Keller, 2003). Consumers may pick a BMW based on their beliefs about the quality of BMW products or the image that this brand communicates. Because it is typically a legal necessity for the country of origin to appear visibly somewhere on the product, associations of Germany as the country of origin have the potential to be created at the point of purchase and to affect brand decisions there (Keller, 2003). As the positive outcome of building strong brand equity, brand loyalty might translate into profits despite the fact that favored brands may not be superior by any tangible measure (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2004). According to previous studies by Keller (2003), possible outcomes of building strong brand equity include the following: More inelastic to price increases and more elastic to price decreases, larger margins, brand loyalty, extension opportunities, greater trade support, licensing opportunities, lower vulnerability to crisis, enhanced product perception, and increased marketing communication effectiveness and efficiency. How a company determines its competitive destiny depends a lot on the company and its management (Weilbacher, 1993). The goal of marketing is to satisfy the customer. Corporations have publicly accepted this marketing concept of customer satisfaction. However, in the process

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of real-time decision-making, this concept may receive little attention. Previous research shows that it is almost certainly true that many successful companies have become successful in the first place because of attracting customers through satisfaction gained from superior products or superior services. Though, a company can only sustain its success if it makes a series of conscious and inspired decisions about how it will serve consumers through the creating of products and services that have identifiable value for consumers. The ability of the company to maintain the clarity of its intention to deliver value to the consumer therefore determines the degree to which its success will continue (Erdem & Swait, 2004). As previous studies have suggested, many of the marketing forces that are supposed to cause brand loyalty seem to be increasingly ineffective. A significant number of academic studies confirm the rational basis of consumer brand choice. These studies came to the conclusion that the most influential assumption in consumer-behavior research is that purchases are preceded by a rationale decision process (Weilbacher, 1993). However, if the perceived differences among brands are not great, there is little or no reason for consumers to become loyal to particular brands (Weilbacher, 1993). More recent analyses based upon the alternative nonrational explanation of consumer brand choice show that non-rationale factors influence a customer’s decision. The brand of choice is a decision usually based on the brand’s image and value, with a positive real or perceived price-quality relation (Marconi, 2000). Therefore, Marconi (2000) suggests that the decision to remain loyal to the brand over time is based on following considerations: Customer Satisfaction, value, image, customer service, and guarantee or warranty.

Customer Satisfaction is defined by Marconi (2000) as “the collective embodiment of all the other factors of brand loyalty: value, image, convenience, service, and guarantee”.

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Satisfaction is often the reason why customers of car manufacturers tend to replace their car with the latest version or model offered by the same manufacturer. In order to ensure customer satisfaction over time, monitoring the level of customer satisfaction is as important to the success of a brand as initially defining the target prospect. In terms of value, long-term use suggests brand loyalty, but much of the responsibility to keep a loyal customer lies with the manufacturer’s brand manager. Value is defined by Marconi (2000) and can be based on a real or perceived Price-Quality-Relation. For example, even if the price-quality-relation is perceived rather than real, a lessening of quality standards will disappoint loyal supporters, as will price change that appears unwarranted. Image of a brand can be its own personality as well as its reputation. The personality of a brand is of great importance, because it represents certain characteristics or even lifestyles. It is critical, because it helps building a public identification of oneself with the brand that may lead to strong brand loyalty. In terms of brand reputation, it is important to build a strong, unique and favorable image in order to build brand loyalty (Keller, 2003). Customer Service is one of the most overused words and under-delivered commodities in business (Marconi, 2000). One reason for a high level of dissatisfaction can be traced to over promising. Promising a level of service that can’t be delivered will leave a lasting smudge on a brand that might be otherwise worthy. Brands that are not significantly better than lower-priced competitive brands often enjoy repeat business and brand loyalty because of good service (Marconi, 2000). Finally, guarantee or warranty can create brand loyalty, because the mere fact that it is offered adds the perception of greater value to a product. Offering a guarantee gives the customer a feeling of security, because the manufacturer stands for the quality of the products. Previous research by Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) went further and examined two aspects of brand loyalty, purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty. Behavioral, or purchase, loyalty

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consists of repeated purchases of the brand, whereas attitudinal brand loyalty includes a degree of dispositional commitment in terms of some unique value associated with the brand. According to the authors, purchase loyalty leads to greater market share because of higher levels of repeat purchases among their users. Research also found that consumers’ price perceptions of brands have been found to be unrelated to brand loyalty. Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) propose that attitudinal loyalty leads to a higher relative price for the brand. This proposition draws on the theory of brand equity as a set of customer’s associations and attitudes. In addition, Dick and Basu (1994) suggest other loyalty related marketing advantages, such as favorable word of mouth, which, in turn, might increase market share.

Finally, a shift in customer demographics is recognized. As women rise up through the corporate ranks, their influence on the business world and the automobile industry is increasing enormously. According to Gobe (2001) women are the principal buyers for 65 percent of all cars and trucks in the United States and yet there are very few car manufacturers to make a concentrated attempt to pursue women. An attempt to target women should be approached with great understanding of their true desires and needs. Previous research by Gobe (2001) has found the five most important elements regarding women’s desires and needs. These elements are respect (acknowledge that women are intelligent and informed), individuality (women are playing multiple roles today, therefore recognize their diversity), stress relief (43 percent of women feel frustrated in balancing their work life with their private life), connection (women base most of their decision making on emotions as opposed to rational elements) and relationship (women are looking for brands to trust and will often remain extremely loyal to a brand that has built on their trust consistently, even beyond price).