The emergence of the European consumer: Differences and Similarities in the Preference of Automobile Attributes between Italian and German Millennials

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether European consumer preferences are similar with regard to product choice. Previous research debate over an assimilation of product preferences in the European union through a convergence of cultural value systems since the creation of the single European market. For this matter, an empirical study was conducted on the differences and similarities of Italian and German Millennial consumers in the assigned importance to attributes when purchasing an automobile. The underlying assumption of this analysis is that consumers make decisions, for example on product choice, according to Fishbein’s model. It states that the attitude of consumers toward a product is derived by evaluating a product according to its attributes and subjectively assigning importance to the attributes. Product choice as a type of consumer behavior, is influenced by culture, and in particular by cultural norms and expectations. In order to examine whether cultural differences concerning product choice exist in Europe, the empirical study focused on Italian and German Millennials. Millennials were picked because this age cohort experienced the founding of the single European market and grew up in a common market. Italian and German consumers were mainly chosen, because they have similar indexes on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. If significant differences in the evaluation of the attributes would be detected, this could be attributed analogous to other, more culturally diverse European countries. Four hypotheses are put forward in the context of this thesis. Besides examining the whole Italian and German sample within the scope of the main hypothesis, the consumer groups are also tested on differences by comparing same gender, relationship status and living in a household with or without at least one child. Regarding the main hypothesis significant differences were yielded for environmental aspects, reliability, cost of ownership and the size of automobiles between Italian and German Millennials. Similar results were achieved for the gender comparisons and the households without children. Married respondents and respondents with children differed in the smallest number of attributes namely environmental aspects and performance. On the other hand, respondents in a relationship differed in the highest number of attributes relatively to the other comparisons. These were all the differences revealed in the main hypothesis and additionally, in comfort and performance. Single respondents only differed in environmental aspects, performance and size of automobile. Although, significant deviations of attribute evaluations were detected, all of them were rather small. There was no substantial difference of opinion among them. This has practical implications for marketers in their use of market analysis and segmentation approaches, their product planning, and the creation of promotional strategies. Overall, this thesis provides first clues for further research about similar consumer preferences in the European union.