Analysis of Used Car Purchases
T HIS paper is concerned with factors associated with the purchases of used automobiles. In addition to reporting the results of an empirical investigation, the paper demonstrates a particularly useful method for analyzing survey data when information from more than one independent cross-sectional survey is utilized. The approach consists first of testing the relationship between used car purchases and socioeconomic variables, and second, of relating the residual variability in used car purchases to attitudinal and expectational variables. In the first stage, data from the I955, I956, and I957 Surveys of Consumer Finances (combined) are used, while the second stage makes use of the reinterview part of the I953 Survey.' Table i provides general background information about used car purchases by car owners, and about the frequency of multiple car ownership among used car purchasers (namely, of spending units who bought their used car as a second car). Almost a quarter of all car owners buy a used car in any one year, and about one fifth of the purchasers buy their used car as a second car. In examining the variations of these proportions among population sub-groups (with proper account given to sampling variations), an important pattern emerges. It shows a decline in the frequency of used car purchases and an increase in the frequency of multiple ownership among purchasers, with a rise in the socio-economic status of the group. This pattern is maintained within occupation, education, liquid asset (bank accounts and government bonds), and income groups. In addition, it appears that home owners are more frequent used car buyers (and multiple owners) than non-owners, and the proportion of multiple car owners among used car buyers rises with the increase in the number of income receivers in the spending unit. Individually, all these and other independent variables manifest a relationship to used car purchases. However, since they are not independent of each other, a multivariate analysis is required before significant relationships can be established.
- DOI
- 10.2307/1927270
- Volume
- 41 (4)
- Pages
- 419
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- BibTeX
- Sources
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