Driving success: A segmentation of customer admiration in automotive industry

Abstract

To stay relevant with the ever-changing customers, companies have to create value by perpetually evolving the relationship between their brand and customers. The enduring success from the world’s most well-known automotive brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Harley-Davidson can be attributed because they are admired. However, to build customer’s admiration, a brand has to understand who those customers are, what motivates them, why they will admire a certain brand, and how they will admire it. This study formulates customer segmentation in the context of their admiration towards car brands in Indonesia. The variables used to segment the customers are demographics, motivation, reference group, current car usage and information channel they use. Analysis methods used in this quantitative research are cluster analysis, cross-tabulation, and multiple discriminant analysis to process the research data collected from 501 respondents via an online questionnaire. The result generates three customer segments: the Dreamer who dreams high but never bought a car before, the Working for Success who currently have an entry-level car looking for an upgrade. Lastly, the Family Oriented who have the biggest disposable income and are influenced by their family when admiring a car brand. For industry players, this research is expected to provide insight into the characteristics of each customer segment as a guide in implementing relevant strategies for each segment. While for the academic aspect, this study contributes new information in the area of brand management.