The document summarizes the findings of a study into women's experiences with automotive brands. It found that women experience both delight and dismay in equal measure across brand, buying, dealership, and ownership experiences. The dealership experience was the most dissatisfying, with women feeling patronized. While buying experiences scored better, dissatisfaction with other parts of the customer journey tarnished perceptions of brands overall. The industry risks disruption if it does not transform how it markets to and engages with female consumers, who are expected to own most personal wealth in the future.

1. Why women
delight and
despair at the
automotive
experience.
www.different-spin.com/women

2. This project is a“state of the automotive nation”, understanding the total female experience of
automotive.
We have spent 3 months running what we call an Experience Lab, completely immersing ourselves in
the reality of the end consumer experience, in this case four segments of women:
1. Millennials
2. Mothers
3. Professionals
4. Empty-nesters
We used a variety of methods to get under the skin of this area in an unprecedented way. We
integrated quantitative analysis of large volumes of data with in-depth qualitative analysis via survey,
panel and interviews with a total sample size of 48,000 UK women.
This has allowed us to clearly understand the experience states of the female consumer when it
comes to automotive and get a robust view of where the sector is both delighting and dismaying.
www.different-spin.com/women

3. www.different-spin.com/women
It is said that today the deer have the guns.“In today’s
connected world, consumer experience is your brand.
Your brand is defined, not by a marketing team or agency,
but by how people experience it.
This study shows unequivocally what we think the
industry has known instinctively for some time, women
are disenfranchised by the automotive industry.
But the picture is a nuanced one. There are elements of
their experience that both delight and dismay the female
consumer in equal measure. We explore both at length in
the full report.
The problem for automotive is that there are key parts of
the female consumer experience that are so broken they
are tarnishing the entire female perception and therefore
experience of the industry. Marketing, dealership and
service experiences are so disproportionately
exasperating that women have an overarching perception
of disenfranchisement from automotive as a whole.

4. 90%of women would not go to a dealership without a male
partner, male family member of male friend
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5. 56%Said they feel patronised by car advertising
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6. 31%believe NO car brand understands women
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7. Women express delight and dismay at their
experience of automotive in equal measure.
The challenge is that the times of dismay are
so exasperating that they overshadow the
majority of the good experiences to leave
women feeling (in their own words):
confused
uncomfortable
unpleasant
dreadfulhorrific
tortuous
hideous
ghastly
patronising
diabolical
demeaning
www.different-spin.com/women

8. Why does this matter?
Women are expected to own
60%
of all personal wealth by 2025
www.different-spin.com/womenSource: Centre for Economics and Business Research

9. Brand Experience
Buying Experience
Dealership Experience
Ownership Experience
1 105
SATISFACTORYEXASPERATING DELIGHTFUL
The full report is split into four sections to represent the
four distinct“experience states”we observed women
identified when talking about their total consumer
experience.
1. Brand Experience
2. Buying Experience
3. Dealership Experience
4. Ownership Experience
For each of these four states, we have attributed a
satisfaction score to enable you to understand in a
snapshot the sum total of the female experience. These
scores were calculated using a combination of
quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a real
picture of overall female satisfaction with automotive.
1=exasperated
5= satisfactory
10= delightful
In our view 5, whilst being satisfactory is hardly good
enough to compete in the current consumer-centric
marketplace.
Let’s explore these four experience states in more detail
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10. Brand Experience
unsatisfactory
1 105
SATISFACTORYEXASPERATING DELIGHTFUL
The industry has indeed moved on from a funnel model
for understanding the path to purchase. In recent years,
this has been replaced with various iterations of the
McKinsey consumer journey model which is certainly a
better interpretation of what actually happens and has
driven incremental change in automotive over the last 5
years.
However, our research shows unequivocally that, what is
currently understood as the“awareness’stage, often
depicted as one step in the linear consumer journey, is
happening and impacting female consumer decisions
constantly.
Experience is everything
• Your brand is no longer defined by you. Your brand
is defined by the people who experience it.
• This process is continuous and always-on. Brand
perception is being affected at every moment, with
every touchpoint.
• Most of the time those touchpoints are not
controlled by you.
www.different-spin.com/women

11.
“Car brands understand very
stereotypical women.
Not all women, no.
They're very generalised in the way
of it being 'All girls like small cars,
pink steering wheel...”
Emma, 22
www.different-spin.com/women

12.
Women think car adverts are…
63%
77%
69%
56%
18%
32%
20%
29%
35%
76%
5%
3%
9%
9%
5%
Boring
Forgettable
Make false assumptions
Patronising
Realistic
Yes No Don't know
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13.
“I think the problem is purely the
way that it's marketed, I don't think
you can gender a car.”
Rebecca, 22
www.different-spin.com/women

14. Buying
Experience
good
1 105
SATISFACTORYEXASPERATING DELIGHTFUL
This is the part of the automotive experience women are
most satisfied with scoring 7 out of 10 in our satisfaction
score.
Is this because automotives have invested huge
amounts in recent years in digital transformation
projects that have largely focused on the brand
touchpoints experienced by in-market car buyers?
Or is this because most of the touchpoints when in-
market are not with manufacturers or dealers at all, but
with the actual people who have experience of the
brand or model“people like me”
Our research suggests a bit of both.
In-market female car buyers are meticulous in compiling
their long list and short list following a remarkably
uniform process to reach a decision. They find the
process of devising a longlist and then refining it to a
shortlist (usually of 1 or 2 models) hugely empowering,
using expert opinions, ratings and reviews by other
customers and the brand’s own product information (in
that order) to establish their shortlist.
Crucially most women have made their decision before
even setting foot in a dealership but hugely value the
test drive experience to validate their decision. A bad
test drive or dealership experience can and does turn
women off buying a brand, not just this time, but for life.
www.different-spin.com/women

15. “If I were purchasing from a
dealership, although I would ask
them questions, I wouldn’t go in
blind, and would have to have done
a good bit of research online first.”
Maria, 29
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16. 7%
17%
47%
13%
16%
My partner is wholly responsible for researching/
planning and the decision
I do some of the researching/planning with my partner
but they make the final decision
We are equally responsible for the researching/planning
and the decision
I make the final decision but my partner is involved with
some of the researching/ planning
I am wholly responsible for the researching/planning and
decision
What role do you play in decision making when buying a
family car?
www.different-spin.com/women

17. Dealership
Experience
poor
1 105
SATISFACTORYEXASPERATING DELIGHTFUL
This is the part of the entire automotive experience that
is most broken. The problem for OEMs is that it is
obvious from our research that female consumers do
not differentiate between brand/manufacturer and
dealership. A bad experience in a dealership can undo
any points gained from clever marketing or customer
recommendations.
Nevertheless, it is clear from our Experience Lab that
women do value the experience of the test drive, largely
for validating their meticulous research process. How
can OEM’s empower them women by making the‘test’
part of the buying process empowering and even
delightful?
• 23% of women named the car dealership as their
number one source of information for buying a car
• But women are 3 times more likely to say they had
an awful experience in a dealership than an excellent
one.
• 19% of women would skip the dealership
completely (including the test drive)
• 90% would not visit a car dealership without a male
partner, male family member or male friend.
www.different-spin.com/women

18. “I am ashamed to say I hand over to
my husband to contact dealers and
test drive.
I absolutely HATE going to
dealerships myself.
If I could buy a car at the touch of a
button online, I would.”
Kate, 38
www.different-spin.com/women

19.
19%would skip the dealership
completely (including test drive)
www.different-spin.com/women

20. 6 dealership commandments
1. Thou shalt not make wild assumptions
2. Thou shalt not make me feel like a small child
3. Thou shalt not direct all conversation to my husband
4. Thou shalt not look at my children with fear in thine eyes
5. Thou shalt not direct me straight to the family cars
6. Thou shalt listen to my needs
www.different-spin.com/women

21. Ownership
Experience
satisfactory
1 105
SATISFACTORYEXASPERATING DELIGHTFUL
The final experience state is Ownership Experience
It is reductive to view the purchase of a car as the final
step in a customer journey. Moreover it is just one part
of a much more complex process that is far from over at
the point of purchase.
Throughout car ownership, consumers build their
relationships with and opinions of car brands, not just
the ones they own but any they are aware of through
advertising, friends and family, taxi rides and any
number of other means.
However, whilst these impressions are built
continuously, we have found that only a positive
ownership experience can result in true advocacy and
loyalty for a car brand. Nobody can be blamed for
mistaking lust for love on the first test drive, but both
manufacturers and drivers know that true bonds are
built over time.
What Women Want
We said in the introduction to this presentation that
experience is everything
Three things stood out:
1. A transformation of the way cars are marketed.
2. A transformation in the way cars are sold.
3. A product, service and experience that
demonstrates true empathy with women like me.
www.different-spin.com/women

22. “Make me feel grown up - well
spec'd and sensible but powerful.”
Leigh, 46
“Traditional and forward thinking,
reliable and stylish,
affordable and inspiring.”Faye, 24
www.different-spin.com/women

23. [Title] // Good Rebels // Page 23
Do one thing
Start a “Little Things That Matter”movement
• What micro-marketing activity could we undertake to surprise and
delight our female consumer? - Think clever.
• What micro changes can we make to our dealer network to make the
dealer experience feel empowering? - Think head & heart.
• How could we package our product range to meet the needs of our
customer better? - Think access over ownership.
Deep deep understanding of your consumer experience at every
touchpoint.
Afterall, experience is everything.
www.different-spin.com/women

24. Given women are expected to own
60% of all personal wealth by 2025.
How are you, the automotive industry,
ripe for disruption, going to tap into
this potential?
Will you develop experiences that are
capable of connecting powerfully
with the female market without
diminishing its value to men?
Or will it take a bold new entrant
(from Silicon Valley?) to finally create a
delightful experience for every female
car buyer?
It’s time for a consumer
experience revolution in
automotive. www.different-spin.com/women

25. Buy full report
www.different-spin.com/women
www.different-spin.com/women

26. Different Spin is the
automotive experience
innovation lab from Good
Rebels.
Changing the conversation
from advertising to
experience.
www.GoodRebels.com