EuroEconomica, Vol 31, No 1 (2012)

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the main motivational factors identified in the literature concerning the passenger car consumer behavior in the light of the changes induced by the economic crisis. The passenger car industry suffered quite hard since the start of the economic crisis and in Romania things don’t show any improvement in the situation, as the sales continue to decrease. From the marketing perspective it seems like most of the tools that were involved in influencing the consumer behavior don’t work anymore. So, this situation creates the need for a more profound analysis in the consumer psychology and the identification of the changes happening at this level. The findings of this paper indicate that there are three kinds of motivational factors involved in the car purchasing decision, but only two of them could empirically be tested through the methodological approach we took. The affective motives, which are more profound and hidden would need a psychological approach in a further stage of research.