Those to have work on cars are more likely than average to have shopped at an auto accessories shop in the last four weeks – particularly Autobarn and Repco, according to Roy Morgan Research.
A study by Roy Morgan has found that men aged between 35 to 49 or 50 to 64 years, are those most likely to work on cars, with an above average proportion of country dwellers among them.
While Repco and Autobarn are especially popular among people who work on cars, Supercheap Auto is by far the most popular of the three big auto parts stores, with nine per cent of Australians over 14 shopping there in an average four weeks.
This is more than double the proportion who shopped at Repco (four per cent), and triple that which shopped at Autobarn (three per cent).
Between 2010 and 2014, the proportion of people who worked on cars who also got their car serviced grew slightly from 28 per cent to 29 percent, in contrast to the total population – 20 per cent to 19 per cent.
Warren Reid, group accounts director consumer products at Roy Morgan Research, says that while it’s logical that people who work on cars at home would be more likely than the average Aussie to shop at auto accessories stores, the fact that they are also more likely to get their car serviced seems somewhat surprising at first – until you think about it.
“Whereas 24 per cent of the total population agree with the statement, ‘I regard myself as a bit of a car enthusiast’, this figure jumps to 56 per cent of people who work on their cars at home,” Reid said.
“While these ‘revheads’ obviously enjoy a bit of backyard tinkering, they would still rely on the professionals to do the serious work, keep their service schedules up to date and their beloved vehicle performing to its maximum capacity.”
Using Roy Morgan’s segmentation tool, Helix Personas, the researcher has been able to form a clearer picture of who these people are.
“Although they share some obvious common traits, there are key differences between them that might help an auto accessories shop or a chain of garages determine who exactly they wish to target.
“For example, individuals from the family first persona are 24 per cent more likely than the average Australian to have worked on a car in the last three months. These middle class, family focused Aussies tend to live in outer suburbs or medium sized regional towns, where a fair bit of driving is required. They also enjoy DIY, so probably wouldn’t be averse to a bit of home car maintenance – on their own vehicle or those of their kids.
“People from the still working persona, on the other hand, tend to be older, predominantly rural, and on tight budgets. Working on their car would likely be a viable way for them to stretch their finances further – as long as they didn’t have to follow it up with a visit to the mechanic every time.
“This persona is twice as likely to have shopped at Repco than the other two auto stores,” he said.
