October 13th, 2023, Janice Fernandes
Car buying habits vary significantly across the globe but for those who live with other people is it more common for one person to take the entire responsibility or is it a shared purchase?
Data from YouGov Global Profiles highlights the prevalence of sole responsibility in several countries. Nearly two-fifths of overall respondents (38%) say they alone make all car-buying decisions. In Saudi Arabia, 52% of respondents claim sole responsibility for buying cars. Similarly, nearly half of respondents in UAE (47%) and two in five in India (40%), Taiwan (39%) and Mexico (37%) say that car purchasing is a solo venture.
However, a significant proportion of consumers in the Nordics, European and North American regions say that car-buying is a more of a joint endeavor. Nearly two-thirds of Danish respondents say they have joint responsibility for buying cars (64%) and Sweden follows behind at 56%. Overall, around a third of respondents (35%) say they share the responsibility when buying a car.
When it comes to purchasing a car, consumers in USA and Great Britain have similar habits with roughly a third of respondents saying they have sole responsibility for buying a car (33% and 30% respectively) and around 48% and 43% having joint responsibility.
A plurality of consumers in Singapore (44%) say they have no responsibility when it comes to buying cars, which doesn’t come as a surprise considering the high taxes and import duties levied on cars in the country.
Upon breaking down the data by gender, a notable gender disparity emerges in car purchasing patterns. Men predominantly shoulder sole responsibility (48%) compared to women (27%).
Women are more likely to share the car buying responsibility, outpacing all men (39% vs. 31%). They are also far more likely to have no responsibility in buying a car (27%), compared to 15% of men.
This wide gender contrast holds true across all individual markets, with the exception of the United States, where the gender gap narrows. Roughly 38% of American men and 29% of women claim sole responsibility for car purchases, while car buying is a collaborative effort for 47% of men and 50% of women.
The varying degrees of individual and shared responsibility for acquiring vehicles across countries, coupled with gender-driven disparities, reveal a complex landscape that warrants further exploration. As consumers continue to navigate the path to car ownership, understanding these nuances is essential for businesses and policymakers alike.
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Methodology: YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 48 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ years in China and 18+ years in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.
Image: Getty Images