LOYALTY TO CAR BRANDS? MAYBE

What percent of car buyers any given year would you think change brands?

Marketers tend to think of cars as highly-considered purchases with a high ‘badge value’ — they reflect on us as people and show others who we are.

And they think that small brands like Fiat, Alfa Romeo, or Mini, will have a small but loyal following.

There’s definitely truth to this. People drive Bentleys to show off their wealth (that’s a “Veblen good”), or Jeeps to say “I’m outdoorsy.” Warren Buffet drives an entry-level Cadillac sedan because, you know, he's a frugal, regular guy.

And of course there are people who are brand loyal. Steve Ballmer will only ever buy a Ford.

But remarkably, people only stick with the same brand HALF the time they buy a new car. Which means, ipso facto, 50% of people buy a new car from a different make than the one they last drove.

Further, those small brands have LESS 'loyalty', not more, than the big guns like Toyota and Chevy.

Some brands do have more churn (Dodge) or repeat (Subaru) than they should given their market share. But it's somewhat predictable.

The 50% switch rate for cars is shocking for those marketers who live in a world defined by the concept of brand loyalty and badge value — a world where brands matter deeply to people. 

It’s not shocking to those who’ve studied the brand science.

Or to normal people, for whom brands are, mostly, just brands.