Women feel confident and capable when it comes to purchasing a new vehicle, however, they are not seeing themselves reflected in car marketing, Are Media’s Auto HERpulse survey has revealed.

Only one in three women (35%) said they found auto ads persuasive when it comes to deciding which brands to consider before purchasing, while eight in ten (80%) said they are not represented in car advertising and only a quarter (28%) said the marketing was relevant to them and reflected their life and family.

Nat Bettini, research director at Are Media said: “Car manufacturers recognise the role women play when it comes to purchase consideration. They are highly engaged and make informed purchase decisions by drawing on a range of sources, but it’s evident that more needs to be done to ensure they and their lives are better reflected in marketing.”

When it comes to environmental concerns, the debate around the future of petrol-powered vehicles is having an increasing impact, with almost half (43%) saying they were likely to purchase hybrid and just over a third (35%) electric. However, almost half (47%) also said they were unclear of the benefits of an electric car over a hybrid or petrol vehicle.

The inaugural HERpulse Auto survey asked 736 women aged 25 to 64 a broad range of questions about women’s attitudes surrounding the vehicle-purchasing process. It also found the most trusted source of information when deciding what car to buy is word-of-mouth (78%), followed by online articles and reviews from women, while a quarter quoted magazine brands as being a reliable and credible source.

Bettini added: “She rates functional factors such as price, practicality, running costs, safety and size highest in importance when purchasing a car. Having said that, brand is also still important to her, with six in 10 agreeing a car brand should have specific values that they stand for and over half saying that a car brand needs to have values in alignment with their own.”

Andrew Cook, director of sales at Are Media said: “We continue to provide our partners with valuable, future-focused insights on what Australian women are thinking, and having worked with a number of major car brands to develop engaging campaigns for women, our commercial team understands how best to market to them.”