UK car owners 'buy with their heart, not their head'

CAR BUYERS in the UK are an emotional lot and more let their heart decide which car they will buy rather than their head. Even drivers who think they make a decision using their head are often found to let more emotive considerations sway their final choice.

In the Hiscox Head versus Heart study, common sense factors such as fuel economy, value for money and reliability are often over-ruled by heartfelt matters including comfort, speed and design.

Drivers in Scotland are 10% more likely to use their head when buying a car as the place value for money and fuel economy high on their priority list. At the other end of the country, the colour of the car is most important to drivers in the South East of England.

Men are more worried about buying a car that is reliable, while women look for a car that will be comfortable.Dr David Lewis, who carried out the research, said: ‘Even when making a costly purchase like a car, most of our buying decisions are unconscious. People believe they buy with logic and analysed thought but we can clearly see this isn't so. If we bought solely on facts, we'd be dissatisfied, as we would be masking the real decision making process.

‘We also found age differences, regional differences and even gender differences – such as speed being an important factor to men at a subconscious level in the same way as design is to women.’

By Press Association reporters