Chapter 4. Consumers’ Vehicle Preference Survey
A. Demographics, Miscellaneous Attributes, Environmental, and Technological Characteristics of Respondents
Figure 4-1 shows the distribution of the 518 respondents included in our survey by their region of residence. As seen in the figure, Seoul and Gyeonggi account for 19.3 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively, of all total respondents, as was expected from the proportional quota sampling based upon region.
Men represented 50.6 percent of all respondents, and women represented the remaining 49.4 percent. Respondents in their 30s accounted for 20.1 percent of all respondents, while those in their 40s and 50s accounted for 23.6 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively, of all respondents. These three age groups together accounted for 65.8 percent of all respondents.
Of the respondents, 78.0 percent had an education level of college/university or higher. As seen in Figure 4-4, 19.3 percent and 20.8 percent of respondents respectively had a household income level ranging from KRW 3.01 million to KRW 4.00 million and from KRW 4.01 million to KRW 5.00 million. Another 27 percent had a monthly household income greater than KRW 10.01 million. Nearly 55 percent of all respondents had been driving for more than 10 years, while another 10.2 percent had been driving for five to 10 years at the time of the survey. Only nine percent or so had no driving experience at all. The vast majority—86.7 percent—of respondents expressed an interest in environmental problems, including climate change and various emissions (carbon dioxide, exhaust fumes, particulate matter, etc.). Of those who expressed interest, 61.0 percent said they were ‘slightly interested,’ and 25.7 percent identified themselves as ‘very interested’. Nearly 50 percent of respondents expressed a willingness to purchase the latest technologies, such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs, after the products became premium or lower-scale products in the market.
42 The web-based nature of our survey may carry the risk of bias, i.e., older consumers and consumers not open to new technologies or who do not use email and/or smartphones may have, in effect, been excluded from the sample. This may be reflected in the fact that our survey showed a higher cumulative total share (1.4%) of EVs in the Korean vehicle market than the 0.05 percent as of 2016 registered with the MOLIT. This difference may be indicative of the shortcomings of web-based surveys.
Figure 4-1. Distribution of Respondents by Region
Figure 4-2. Distribution of Respondents by Age
만 19세-29세 19 to 29
만 30세-39세 30 to 39
만 40세-49세 40 to 49
만 50세-59세 50 to 59
만 60세-69세 60 to 69
19.3
6.8 4.6 5.0
2.9 3.1 2.3 23.9
2.9 3.3 3.9 3.5 3.3 4.8 6.4 1.9 2.1 0.0
5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
서울 부산 대구 인천 광주 대전 울산 경기 강원 충북 충남 전북 전남 경북 경남 제주 세종
%
18.5 20.1
23.6 22.2
15.6
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
만
19세- 29세만
30세- 39세만
40세- 49세만
50세- 59세만
60세- 69세%
Figure 4-3. Distribution of Respondents by Completed Level of Education
중졸 이하 Middle school or less
고졸 High school
대졸 College or university
대학원 이상 Graduate school or higher
Figure 4-4. Distribution of Respondents by Average Monthly Household Income (After Taxes)
100만원 이하
101~200만원 201~300만원 301~400만원 401~500만원 501~600만원
KRW 1,000,000 or less
KRW 1,010,000 to KRW 2,000,000 KRW 2,010,000 to KRW 3,000,000 KRW 3,010,000 to KRW 4,000,000 KRW 4,010,000 to KRW 5,000,000 KRW 5,010,000 to KRW 6,000,000 1.0
21.0
65.1
12.9
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
중졸 이하 고졸 대졸 대학원 이상
%
3.3 7.7
15.1
19.3 20.8
10.6 8.7
6.0 4.6
1.2 2.7 0.0
5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
%
601~700만원 701~800만원 801~900만원 901~1,000만원 1,001만원 이상
KRW 6,010,000 to KRW 7,000,000 KRW 7,010,000 to KRW 8,000,000 KRW 8,010,000 to KRW 9,000,000 KRW 9,010,000 to KRW 10,000,000 KRW 10,010,000 or more
Figure 4-5. Distribution of Respondents by Driving Experience
1년 이하 1~3년 3~5년 5~10년 10년 이상 경력 없음
Less than a year 1 to 3 years 3 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 years or more No experience
Figure 4-6. Respondents’ Interest in Environmental Issues
10.0 8.3 7.7 10.2
54.8
8.9
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
1년 이하 1~3년 3~5년 5~10년 10년 이상 경력 없음
%
1.0
12.4
61.0
25.7
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
전혀 관심 없다 별로 관심 없다 약간 관심 있다 매우 관심 있다
%
전혀 관심 없다 Not interested at all
별로 관심 없다 Not interested
약간 관심 있다 Slightly interested
매우 관심 있다 Very interested
Figure 4-7. Openness of Respondents to the Latest Technologies
구매 계획 없음 No plans to purchase
10년 이후 시장에서 보편화 된 상품일 경우 구매
Would purchase if the technology has been on the market for 10 years
5~10년 사이, 시장에서 보편화된 상품보다
프리미엄 상품일 때 구매
Would purchase if the technology has been a premium product on the market for 5 to 10 years 5년 이내, 신기술이 도입된 초기 시장에서
구매
Would purchase if the technology has been in the market for less than 5 years
Figure 4-7 shows the distribution of respondents by their willingness to adopt the latest technologies available in the market. According to the survey, approximately 10 percent of consumers would be early adopters in any given market, while 51.7 percent would be classified as the early majority. Conversely, 31.5 percent would be the late majority, and 5.8 percent would be the late adopters.43