OPINION

There’s a lot been said and written about the ‘scarfie’ lifestyle in the last couple of weeks, so we’re off this week to check it out.

Our grandson has spent the last four years at Otago University, and he graduates with degrees in psychology and health sciences on Saturday. We’re really proud of what he has achieved and who he has become.

Most Otago graduates turn out to be well-adjusted, responsible and impressive adults, so give the new MP a break.

It’s the psychology degree that is the lead in this column. Psychology is “the scientific study of the human mind and its function, especially affecting behaviour in a given context”. It’s figuring out why people do things.

Our grandson is cutting his teeth in this territory via the door-to-door selling of charitable-giving commitments on behalf of an established, well-known, registered charity.

He’s passionate about selling and, if ever there was a sales proving-ground, it’s going door-to-door selling a commitment to an intangible product, which has the benefit of a huge “feel-good” factor in making a contribution to disadvantaged people. So good on him.

Trying to figure out why people buy, then creating and presenting a product to meet that need, is the basis of world commerce. In this context, we have just bought a new car, and I’ve spent the last few days trying to understand the process we went through in arriving at that purchase – so I could write this column.

Buying a new car is a fraught process. It’s a big purchase, with another huge choice to be made regarding the extra pressure of clean-car discounts for electric vehicles (EVs).

The more choice, the more stress, according to the psychologists, with the initial fundamental choices being petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric.

There are too many contradictions relating to electric vehicles, such as range, availability of charging, length of battery life, the cost of a new battery, the sustainability of the extra electricity demand on the system and the relative car price.

We traded off the lower running cost against all these uncertainties and told ourselves we weren’t buying electric.

It’s fair to say, though, that recent research indicates that buyers tend to overstate the driving range issue, as most journeys are short, with very few in the 400 – 500 kilometre range.

If we weren’t buying electric, then why would you buy a car with two motors, just as a fob to the climate change issue? The hybrid didn’t make sense.

Diesel vehicles have traditionally been cheaper to run, but as the petrol and diesel prices edge closer, and when you add in road user charges, that advantage becomes questionable.

We didn’t need the extra power or noise or extra purchase price of a diesel, so we settled on the purchase of a petrol car.

Over the past 40 years, I have driven Subarus. That originates from the company I worked for – the Northland Subaru agency.

It’s a well-known factor that Subaru drivers are very loyal, but SubLab don’t sell new cars, and the prospect of buying a new car from Auckland did not appeal.

There was a phone approach to an Auckland dealer, but the persistence, lack of colour choice as well as relative price made a change of brand inevitable.

Psychologists rarely consider the personal factor in car purchase behaviour. Do you trust the salesperson to figure out your needs and deliver on them long-term?

This is the second biggest purchase that most people will make, and you need to feel that you are in safe hands. That made the choice pretty easy.

The dealer principal was an apprentice in the aforementioned historic workplace and he had already imported a couple of Subarus on our behalf, so Kia was an easy choice. It was also relatively easy relating to the size and type of car, but the colour became the sticking point.

Again, the psychologist will tell you that the colour of the car that you drive says something about your personality.

Our last three cars have been grey, indicating that we are neutral, sober and practical, caring less about status than the status quo.

A red car appealed, but being called aggressive, ambitious and impulsive did not. Then my wife spotted a Mars Orange car which was immediately available.

She put her hand on it and said, “Put our name on this one”.

Well, psychology says that orange car drivers say to the world, “I prefer to invest my money than pamper myself”- and I am quite OK with that.

There you have it – Car Buying 101. The psychology graduate will tell you all about why we buy, and it’s great being wise in hindsight.