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Persians and
the Mercedes-Benz!
For years, I’ve repeatedly asked myself the same question, “Why do Persians believe that Mercedes-Benz is the ultimate car manufacturer?” I understand the Mercedes-Benz has been around for over 120 years and has a very rich history in the automobile industry. In fact, Mercedes- Benz is the only car manufacturer called on by European authorities to the scene of an accident to perform research. Additionally, BMW recently began looking to build more technological bridges with Mercedes Benz. Indeed, this car is the ultimate car for consumers who can afford it. However, I find it puzzling that consumers who cannot afford a Mercedes -Benz still go beyond their means to buy and drive this luxury car.
Isn’t there any other luxury car with a lower price-tag available in the market that will do? Isn’t any other car as safe as the Mercedes Benz? There are many more questions lingering in my mind about the Persians-and-Mercedez-Benz phenomena that inspired the academic research behind this paper, Payam readers can now read in it’s magazine-adapted format.
The Structural Approach to Attitude
An attitude has three main components: beliefs, emotions and intentions (Martin Evans et al., 1965). In my research method, participants (Persians with an outrageous love of the Mercedes- Benz) were asked to write the dialog for pictures showing situations, such as a salesperson approaching him/her in the showroom. Participants were confronted with the picture and asked to describe how the person in the picture feels and thinks. I refrained from asking imaginary questions from the participants due to cultural reasons.
When participants were asked to relate their personal experiences and feelings related to historical events, the answers were not as expected. Almost everyone had difficulty answering this question. Some participants related their experiences and feelings to their grandparents in their hometowns, but most participants were not able to recall any memories from the past to relate to the subject matter.
In the cultural interview question, the majority of participants thought that driving a Mercedes has a direct relation to their level of prestige, according to Persian culture. This cultural attitude has been passed down to them from previous generations. However, the question, “Will we pass this attitude onto future generations of Persians?” remains unclear.
The Participants
This research was conducted with five Persian males between the ages of 35 and 60 and four Persian females between the ages of 38 and 65. The participants’ median salary was $75,000, and the education level varied from high school diplomas to doctoral degrees.
Beliefs
Cognitive questions used to assess the consumers’ knowledge level focused on engine capacity, luxury, price, gas consumption, comfort, engineering of the car, turbo engine, size, and the car’s computer chips.
The young male candidates answered the questions based on their knowledge about the car’s performance
Female participants did not have the same level of knowledge on such questions; they mainly chose the car based on price, luxury, safety and size.
Emotions
Estimating the consumers’ 1- attitude towards, 2- desire for, and 3- interest in the car included asking questions about how they feel when driving the car, sometimes using photos as prompts to help boost their imagination in order to answer the questions more fully. One such example prompt: “Imagine yourself driving this car (Mercedes-Benz in the picture) on a road, at your desired speed.”
Overall, the younger candidates were more willing to use their imagination than the older generations.
Intentions
The third series of questions focused on the intention of the consumer when buying a Mercedes-Benz. Certainly, the answers varied according to gender and age. Younger single males wanted to impress the opposite sex; female candidates had safety concerns due to carrying children in the car; and the older male candidates wanted to earn respect and prestige in the society, mainly in Persian society.
What fascinates me is that single Persian males will purchase the Mercedez-Benz, no matter how little they earn. As stated previously, this practice is largely due to the desire of impressing the opposite sex. In fact, this shows just how much single Persian females are concerned with their companions’ image in society, that they would oblige single males to purchase this car—even if they cannot afford it!
In sum, the research here has helped to build stepping stones towards future research. Not much has been studied on this specific subject until now. Certainly, it took a Persian to do it!
References
Martin Evans et al’s (1965), Consumer Behaviour, the structural approach to attitude and attitude changes, Wiley publishing, West Sussex, England.
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