How important is vehicle safety for older consumers in the vehicle purchase process?

This study aimed to investigate the importance of vehicle safety to older consumers in the vehicle purchase process. Methods: Older (n = 102), middle-aged (n = 791), and younger (n = 109) participants throughout the eastern Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland who had recently purchased a new or used vehicle completed an online questionnaire about their vehicle purchase process. Results: When asked to list the 3 most important considerations in the vehicle purchase process (in an open-ended format), older consumers were mostly likely to list price as their most important consideration (43 ). Similarly, when presented with a list of vehicle factors (such as price, design, Australasian New Car Assessment Program [ANCAP] rating), older consumers were most likely to identify price as the most important vehicle factor (36 ). When presented with a list of vehicle features (such as automatic transmission, braking, air bags), older consumers in the current study were most likely to identify an antilock braking system (41 ) as the most important vehicle feature, and 50 percent of older consumers identified a safety-related vehicle feature as the highest priority vehicle feature (50 ). When asked to list up to 3 factors that make a vehicle safe, older consumers in the current study were most likely to list braking systems (35 ), air bags (22 ), and the driver s behavior or skill (11 ).