What Drives Consumers in Poland and the Czech Republic When Choosing Engine Oil Brand?

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the research was to study consumer decision-making and purchasing preferences when buying engine oils to reveal the presence of consumer preference heterogeneity.

Research Design & Methods: Survey data were collected from Polish and Czech consumers by using a self-administered questionnaire. The main data analysis tools used in the study were the finite mixture models and semantic differential.

Findings: Consumers do not constitute a single homogenous group. They cluster into four segments with differing importance profiles. The study found that the largest consumer segment, over one-third of consumers, consider the quality classification, viscosity classification, and OEM specification as the most important criteria during the decision-making process.

Implications & Recommendations: As the largest extracted consumer segment includes drivers who are mainly guided by technical specification in the purchasing process, we recommend producers to put additional efforts to provide clearly visible technical specifications on the product label.

Contribution & Value Added: The study fills an important gap regarding the lack of empirical research in the context of buying engine oils. The undertaken research indicates that the attention of future consumer research into brand attachment should be shifted from brand loyalty studies towards the study of brand familiarity. The paper presents very valuable model-based consumer segmentation.

Keywords

engine oil, consumer behaviour, choice heterogeneity, consumer segmentation, model-based clustering

Author Biography

Artur Wolak

Doctor of Economics (Cracow University of Economics, Poland). Currently works at the Department of Industrial Commodity Science at the Cracow University of Economics. His current research projects focus on improving the accuracy of assessment of physicochemical changes which occur during actual engine operation.

Correspondence to: Department of Industrial Commodity Science, Cracow University of Economics, 27 Rakowicka St., 31-510 Cracow, Poland, artur.wolak@uek.krakow.pl

Kamil Fijorek

Doctor of Economics (Cracow University of Economics, Poland). Currently works at the Department of Statistics at the Cracow University of Economics. His research interests include bankruptcy prediction, energy economics and panel data analysis.

Correspondence to: Department of Statistics, Cracow University of Economics, 27 Rakowicka St., 31-510 Cracow, Poland, kamilfijorek@gmail.com

Grzegorz Zając

Doctor of Agricultural Science (University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland). Currently works at the Department of Power Engineering and Transportation at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin. He is currently conducting research in assessment of physicochemical changes engine oil which occur during actual engine operation.

Correspondence to: Department of Power Engineering and Transportation, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28 St., 20-612 Lublin, Poland, grzegorz.zajac@up.lublin.pl

Vojtěch Kumbár

Doctor of Technology and Agriculture Machinery (Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic). Currently works as associate professor at the Department of Technology and Automobile Transport at the Mendel University in Brno. His research is focused on rheology and tribology.

Correspondence to: Department of Technology and Automobile Transport, Mendel University in Brno, 1 Zemedelska St., 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, vojtech.kumbar@mendelu.cz

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