What Drives Consumers in Poland and the Czech Republic When Choosing Engine Oil Brand?

Abstract

The objective of the research was to study consumer decision-making and purchasing preferences when buying engine oils to reveal the presence of consumer preference heterogeneity. Research Design & Methods: Survey data were collected from Polish and Czech consumers by using a self-administered questionnaire. The main data analysis tools used in the study were the finite mixture models and semantic differential. Findings: Consumers do not constitute a single homogenous group. They cluster into four segments with differing importance profiles. The study found that the largest consumer segment, over one-third of consumers, consider the quality classification, viscosity classification, and OEM specification as the most important criteria during the decision-making process. Implications & Recommendations: As the largest extracted consumer segment includes drivers who are mainly guided by technical specification in the purchasing process, we recommend producers to put additional efforts to provide clearly visible technical specifications on the product label. Contribution & Value Added: The study fills an important gap regarding the lack of empirical research in the context of buying engine oils. The undertaken research indicates that the attention of future consumer research into brand attachment should be shifted from brand loyalty studies towards the study of brand familiarity. The paper presents very valuable model-based consumer segmentation. Article type:research article

Professional Car Drivers’ Attitudes toward Technical, Marketing and Environmental Characteristics of Engine Oils: A Survey Study

“…In the next part of the data analysis, the segmentation results obtained for professional drivers will be briefly compared to the results of the segmentation of regular drivers, which were the subject of analysis in the article [48]. For regular drivers, the division into four segments was optimal.…”

“…The design of the questionnaire was preceded by an in-depth literature analysis to formulate survey questions that correctly reflect the multi-faceted structure of the phenomenon under study. A detailed discussion of this aspect is described in the article [48]. The two questions that formed the principal basis of the analysis concerned the importance of the criteria determining the choice of the engine oil brand and an indication of the willingness to buy engine oil with the same technical parameters as the one previously bought but marked as environmentally friendly.…”

“…In the next stage of the analysis, segment 4 -the largest of the four segments representing professional drivers -will be compared with the largest segment of regular drivers (Figure 3). The appropriate results were taken from the study [48]. 3 highlights the criteria for which the largest differences between the two segments are observed.…”

“…However, there are no such studies for engine oils intended for use in passenger cars. In their previous study [48], the authors of this article examined selected aspects of the consumer decision-making process regarding the choice of new engine oil. The research focused on regular drivers, i.e., people who use cars to meet their mobility and transportation needs.…”

“…The aim of this paper is to present the research results on the decision-making processes of professional drivers when they choose a new engine oil. Unlike in the previous study [48], the analysis was extended to include the environmental aspects, and especially in this context, the article fills the gap in the literature as indicated above.…”