What influences your buying behavior?

Thanks for the comment! JD Power actually approached their poll from an interesting angle, as they were interested in gauging the reasons consumers fail to consider particular brands or models when they’re shopping for a new car. (This is no-doubt valuable feedback for marketing departments aiming to improve brand reputation). What they found was that the most consumers (43%) stated the primary reason for avoiding certain vehicles was conventional wisdom about the brand’s quality or reliability. Fewer consumers (38%) avoided a model because of ratings or reviews. Granted, different mechanisms and motivations are involved in choosing (approaching) something vs. rejecting (avoiding) something. For instance, they found that gas mileage was the primary reason people gave for purchasing a particular vehicle model.

So with respect to your recent car purchase, I guess the question would be: If reliability and mpg were the main reasons you went with the Prius, what were the main reasons you decided against the Chevy Volt or the Ford Fusion?