A recent study analysing over 400,000 UK road accidents suggested that drivers of certain car brands, such as Subaru, Porsche, and BMW, are more likely to be causing crashes, particularly when “risky or aggressive maneuvers” are a factor.
The analysis revealed a significant statistical difference across various brands, with Subaru, Porsche, and BMW being associated more with “dodgy driving” behaviours.
This includes speeding, running red lights, neglecting pedestrian crossings, or overtaking on double white lines. This kind of conduct by drivers is more common in Subaru, Porsche, and BMW when compared to brands like Skoda or Hyundai.
Branding influencing driver behaviour?
The researchers, after considering variables such as drivers’ ages and road types, proposed that branding might play a role in these findings. The study, published in the Journal of Social Marketing has raised concerns into the role of car marketing in influencing driver behaviour.
Lead author Alan Tapp, a professor of social marketing, said that the prevalence of aggressive driving was higher among brands characterised by advertising and marketing that seemingly “celebrate performance driving, look at me, king-of-the-road stuff.”
Subaru drivers were found to exhibit the highest proportion of “injudicious action,” as described by the paper.
A Porsche spokesperson highlighted their commitment to safety.
Subaru noted changes in their range since the examined data period 2011-2015 data. BMW also stressed on their dedication to safety in marketing practices.
However, branding guru Mark Borkowski suggested that car manufacturers have long influenced consumers to buy into a lifestyle brand by “bewitching a consumer” that “you have the Top Gear or Grand Tour idiom, or movies like Fast and Furious or James Bond”.
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“None of those experiences and imagery seem particularly real, but people maybe – particularly guys – step into those cars and think they’ve become those brands, even when you don’t have those Swiss mountain passes or the LA Freeway. And nothing looks more silly than being in a super-sleek car tootling slowly around on the streets of Guildford and Gosport,” Borkowski added.
(With inputs from agencies)
