‘You have unmet needs’: the psychology behind Australia’s love affair with big cars | Transport

The “rugged upper, wood” slaughtering the dragon, fighting bears, practiced with a saw and a volcano jumps in the most recent indiscriminate access memory, It was released to Super Bowl last month.

At a height of about six meters and width more than two meters, the rams are one of a group of excessive machines coming to control the Australian roads. The marketing of these cars is tilted towards Macho, with pictures of strong vehicles that invade rugged terrain and withdraw the massive loads.

In 2024, Ford’s huge goalkeeper was again the most popular cars in Australia. Most of the new cars have been sold Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) were followed by light commercial vehicles, including Uts. Only one passenger car – Toyota Corolla – I made the top 10.

While tax exemptions are like The instant asset deletion scheme and Luxury car tax exemptions It has added to the desire for SUVs, double cars, and American -style capture trucks, and studies show that there are deeper operations that push people towards large cars despite the climate and cost crises.

Experts say that personal traits – including narcissism – and psychological needs pushing some people towards certain cars, including those that promise adventure, attention and muscles.

The safety of a larger car, with its high position in sitting, also plays a role – although it makes the world less safety for those around them.

The Ram Commercial Maker, David Lech, Director of Deadpool 2, appears to be aware of these desires for adventure and safety.

In this Super Bowl advertisement, it was found that the Action Hero trip of the actor Glen Powell was a copy of his imagination, which is the dreams of vigilance while reading Goldilocks and Three Bears for his nephew and nephew. They end up in the back seat of a ram. With a bear.

Emotions play a big role

Consumer psychologist Nathan Moore is studying for a PhD at Technology University, Sydney on Psychology of how people buy cars, with their attention to encouraging the most sustainable purchases.

It defines four areas that affect these decisions: the situation and the identity – how people want to look at it; Control, independence and freedom to go on rough roads or long distances; Safety and security; And excitement or fun.

He says emotions play a big role when buying a car.

“The dominant motivation for buying the car is to fill some psychological needs,” said Moore. “We choose them to fulfill things in our lives, and the aspirations we have.”

the Increase the number of ads Moore says the largest cars help to create that need. “They try to tell you that your life misses something, and that this product will fill this hole.

“You have incomplete needs, in this case a large car … these ads usually involve adventure, off -road out, camping, and skiing.

“This rough terrain can be treated, it feels strength, and is suitable for Australian cultural identity.”

From 2022 to 2023 there was a 29 % leap in advertising spending For SUVs in Australia, the Commain Group is found New fuel efficiency standards To encourage cleaner and more green cars.

Sakhr says that the most polluted car makers are trying to cancel their cars before [standards] Come, says the founder of COMMS, Belinda Noble.

It is not just a trading trade.

For example, Mitsubishi expects 42 % of the latest Titon Model sales to come From families34 % of Tradies, 15 % fleet buyers and 9 % of double/no children.

These large cars feed the crowding, prevent the streets and outperform the size of the parking lots, which leads to calls to Construction Drawing safety and environment advocates.

Earlier this year, the Australian Prime Minister, Peter Malenoskas, announced that building new homes should have Mazer garages, The vegetable plan is called “absurdity”.

“There will be dirt routes.”

Charles, a professional with three children living in the inner West in Sydney, says he bought a great prize in late 2024 because he plans to move to the country when he retires.

“We will get out of Sydney and there will be dirt ways,” says dual adult owner.

He took off on the transport bar at the moment to “turn it into an urban vehicle” but he admits that he is still a long time for his corridor and entered the pedestrian corridor when he was stopped. It is extremely wide for people to enter and outside the passengers when they are stopping at home as well.

Charles Ute, which still has huge off-road tires, uses to operate schools and “usual trips to Bunnings for soil bags, etc.-it’s great, you can just throw them back.” It is great to pick up people with luggage from the airport or move the furniture.

Charles believes that more people buy Uts because of ads that indicate “you can change your lifestyle.”

“I wonder if this is the post -pregnancy residue in that we are trapped and entered, then suddenly you get a flood of ads on the TV that enhances lifestyle … and suddenly we wanted to drive on the back roads, driving along the beaches, and throwing things in the back, sitting on the back dislocation to look at the stars.

“Now, how many people do it really I will ask them. But you have this option.”

When asked about the potential environmental impact, Charles says: “I had an environmental consideration, but that was the opposite … The weather will be worse, there will be greater floods and greater threats, so I need to get a more powerful car.”

“You can predict a person’s car preferences”

Professor Peter Occon from the College of Business Administration at Queensland University of Technology in the features of the five major character – openness, conscience, extraction, compatibility and nervousness – looked at to see if it is associated with the choice of the car.

“We also looked at an additional feature that we thought could be related,” he says. “Narcissism. The desire for admiration by others, the need to think that it is special, to emerge.”

For this study, published in 2022, his team was cut off from a group of car features in two comprehensive categories. The first was “style and performance”-which included large and modern cars and searched for attention, loud, high performance and entertainment. The second was “safety and practical application” – for safe, reliable and economical cars.

“Most people are looking for one or both,” says Okonor. “We found that, yes, you can predict the preferences of a person’s car based on its features.”

The study, published in Personality and individual differences magazineThe previous research that found that people who drive “high -level cars” tend to “ignore safe driving practices and traffic laws.”

The team’s research found that women, the elderly, the high conscience and consent were more likely to search for safety and practical application. Being a strong indication of going to style and performance, as well as the features of diastole and low sympathy.

Another study, published in Transport research In 2022, I looked at the trends towards “large cars with major mass and horse power” in Germany. The research that found that young drivers of SUVs or captured trucks were more likely to drive and that SUV drivers were more likely to have traffic violations and to cause more injuries.

“Each of the safety and sitting highlands, along with feelings of excellence, may be determinants of risky behaviors.”

Third study 2022 published in Consumer Policy Magazine People who were found cars have chosen because they saw them as safer, but it is likely that large car drivers had accidents and was “a threat to all other road users.”

The Accident Research Center at Monash University found that large cars The most likely To cause deaths and serious injuries to other people when they are in an accident.

“They are likely to allow me to integrate”

Mia, 22, lives in the inner West in Sydney and pays UTE.

“We have always had Uts in my family,” she says. “My old father’s ory – this was the person who first brought me out and taught me how to drive. My grandfather has one as well. So I have always had a connection to the largest cars.”

MIA works in building management and spends half its time on the site. It drives UTE – one long -tray taxi.

“If we need wood … I would take it from the wood square,” she explained. “A lot of things we ask for great deliveries. If we need something, such as grate, drain, tube, I can go to the supplier to capture what we need and bring it to the site.”

Outside work, Mia leads her father on long trips from the city or in the city when he does not use it.

“I enjoy the leadership [ute]Mia says. “I think it’s a different experience in general. Small cars are very zippy.

“We cannot take her to a lot of parking” because she is very high, but she says, there are other benefits.

“Before they see those behind the wheel, they are [other drivers] It is likely to allow me to integrate, because you assume that it is a frightening male behind the wheel … I assume this is the reason. “

Moore says emotions may have led to the Australian love relationship with monster cars, but they can help end them. The consumer psychologist refers to one emotion in particular – guilt.

He says he transports people to low emissions, there should be a focus on climate change and the personal effect of emissions, which can cause respiratory distress.

“We breathe emissions, and our children breathe emissions,” he says. “You are air pollution.”

Highlighting the risk and greater crowding can change purchase cars. “You will start feeling guilty, then you have a psychological need to reduce this guilt,” said Moore.

– Additional reports Rafqa Touma