2014 Automotive Brand Dependence Index

Driven by Brand Americans have long had a love affair with their cars. It is more than a fascination. Many consumers treat their car brands as an extension of their own identity, validating the saying that “you are what you drive." When consumers are attached to a particular automotive brand, they forge an emotional connection that is strong enough to keep them coming back, to favorite car brand's shortcomings. willing to pay a premium price and to excuse their To learn more about this attachment and what it means to individual carmakers, UTA Brand Studio produced a new iteration of its Brand Dependence Index™M, ranking automotive brands based on the strength of consumer attachment. 01 BDI RATINGS - How the brands stack up Attachment is based on a scale of 0-100. 4,545 US consumers age 18 and older were studied. CAR MAKE ATTACHMENT Audi ♥♥♥♥ 77 BMW 71 Cadillac 70 Mercedes-Benz 69 Acura 69 Toyota 68 Honda 67 Lexus 66 Subaru 64 Volkswagon 64 Chevrolet 63 Lincoln 63 Kia 62 NIssan 61 Ford 61 Volvo 61 Hyundai 61 Infiniti 61 Mazda 60 Mitsubishi 59 Dodge 59 Chrysler 59 Buick 57 Ratings Takeaways Audi has developed a strong attachment with its drivers. Audi has a shorter luxury history than its German competitors, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But in virtually every important measurement in our study, the Audi brand scored higher than its German cousins. At the other end of the spectrum, Buick scored lowest among the 23 brands studied. Buick's low attachment score is reflected in the brand's lackluster showing in other key measurements of consumer behavior. Among U.S. luxury brands, Cadillac's strong attachment score may be indicative of the bold moves that General Motors has taken in recent years to re-establish the brand. Lincoln's mid-pack score reflects Ford's ongoing efforts to reshape the brand's image. 02 ATTACHMENT VS Attachment OTHER BRAND METRICS Attitude Predicting behavior Satisfaction" All numbers are based on a scale of 0-1. I would be a perfecet correlation between the driver and the behavior. O is no correlation at all *Defined as a consumer's overall evaluation of the brand **How satisfied the consumer is with the brand CORRELATION Willingness to pay a premium price Willingness to repurchase Willingness to repurchase despite negative incident Willingness to forgive over negative incident Willingness to defend over negative incident 0,0 01 02 0,3 0.4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 Attachment Success Takeaways Attitude and satisfaction ratings are traditional ways of trying to predict valuable buyer behavior, but they were strikingly less reliable than attachment in anticipating consumer actions. Willingness to repurchase is critically important to automakers – particularly with their luxury brands, but attitude and satisfaction lagged behind attachment in predicting this vital behavior. 03 ATTACHMENT VS Attachment OTHER BRAND METRICS Attitude Predicting willingness to repurchase Satisfaction Willingness to repurchase 80 70 60 50 40 SI Attachment vs. Other Brand Metrics Takeaways Compared to the attitude and satisfaction, attachment correlates better with consumers' "willingness to repurchase" from the brand. Attitude and satisfaction are less reliable in predicting consumer behavior. Relying on them can be misleading. For example Acura's higher attitude and satisfaction scores compared to Audi's would suggest that Acura drivers are more willing than Audi drivers to repurchase from the brand. Yet that is not the case. 04 ESSENTIAL Audi Attachment drivers Mercedez-Benz BMW Çadillac Acura Brand Identity 100 Product Value Design Credibility Durability Advertising Attribute-Specific Takeaways For the car category, the strongest drivers of attachment are (1) Unique Brand Identity, (2) Product Durability, (3) Product Design, (4) Product Value, (5) Brand Credibility, and (6) Advertising. Audi statistically outperforms its closest competitor, BMW, on five out of these six drivers (on everything but Durability). This explains why Audi's attachment score is so high compared to its competitors'. 05 BRAND PERSONALITY PERCEPTIONS What makes Audi's brand identity unique? NO-NONSENSE PLAYFUL Brand Personality Takeaways Audi has a unique brand personality that combines the perceived sophistication of a luxury brand with a playful/casual image. Audi is as sophisticated as the other brands; in contrast, Acura lags behind. 06 ADDITIONAL Findings Environmentally conscious Consumers are more A likable car model brand attributes lift attached to luxury than name increases attachment in some model non-luxury car makes. attachment toward extensions of a maker's the car. brand. The 2014 Automotive Brand Dependence Index™ was developed by UTA Brand Studio in exclusive partnership with uSamp. More UTA than 4,000 US consumers participated in this proprietary study. BRAND For more information, visit us at utabrandstudio.com and STUDIO usamp.com BMW Cadillac Mercedes-Benz DAeans Volkswagon DOWN-TO-EARTH SOPHISTICATED Chevrolet iysignsuk a6pog JaIskJUD Buick