Abstract
In a news release dated April 9, 2012, Polk stated that only 35% of hybrid owners bought a hybrid again when they returned to market in 2011. These findings were based on an internal study conducted by Polk. The study also indicated that if repurchase behavior among the high volume audience of Toyota Prius owners wasn’t factored in; hybrid loyalty would drop to under 25%. This news release has generated a lot of interest and concern by the automobile industry as well as consumers, since it was published, and caused many to think about the idea of hybrid loyalty as well as factors that influence consumers. Most reactions to the 35% hybrid loyalty dealt with concerns of the viability of hybrid technology as part of the solution to address transportation energy challenges.
This paper attempts to shed more light on Polk’s hybrid loyalty study as well as explore several information sources concerning hybrid loyalty status. Specifically, major factors that might impact the selection and acquisition of hybrid vehicles are addressed. This includes investigating the associations between hybrid market shares and influencing factors like fuel price and hybrid incentives, as well as the availability of hybrid models and other highly fuel efficient vehicle options. This effort is not in-depth study, but rather a short study to see if Polk’s claim could be validated.
This study reveals that Polk’s claim was rather misleading because its definition of loyalty was very narrow. This paper also suggests that Polk’s analysis failed to account for some very important factors, raising the question of whether it is fair to compare a vehicle drive train option (which hybrids are) with a vehicle brand in terms of loyalty and also raises the question of whether hybrid loyalty is even a valid point to consider. This report maintains that Polk’s study does not prove that hybrid owners were dissatisfied with their vehicles, which was a common theme among reporting news agencies when Polk initially released their findings. In this brief review, the team has looked at factors that might contribute to a consumer choosing to not purchase a hybrid; including the increase in manufacture’s overall vehicle mpg and the percentage of the vehicle market owned by hybrids.
