Factors affecting car purchase intention among undergraduates in Malaysia

Abstract

Young graduates made up 15.6% of the overall employment population in Malaysia. Thus, the demand of new car purchase by young graduates in Malaysia constitutes an important market segment for automotive industry within the country. Hence, this research aims to explore the impact of new car purchase factors toward car purchase intention among final year undergraduates from the Faculty of Management (FM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Four main car purchase factors were identified from literature review, which comprising of pricing, aesthetic, features and interpersonal influences. A total of 127 sets of questionnaires were distributed to the final year students from the Accounting, Marketing Management, Technology Management, Psychology and Human Resource Management undergraduate programs within FM, with 81 responded. Data collected were analysed using Multiple Regression analysis. Finding from the study reveals that 44.2% of the variation in car purchase intention among final year undergraduates of FM could be explained by the variation of the four car purchase factors. In addition, findings from the study also suggested that the impact of “aesthetic” toward car purchase intention is the highest among the four factors. The implication of the study is automobile industry shall place “aesthetic” as the marketing focus when dealing with market segment of young graduates.