Decision-making factors in the aviation buying process

The May 10 Flight Manual focused on understanding the characteristics of purchasing decision makers within the business aviation (BA) and general aviation (GA) markets.

This week we dig deeper still to gain insight into the product and supplier factors that most influence their buying decisions. This goes to the heart of what buyers value most, so it’s directly relevant to those who market and sell to these audiences.

Looking at responses by both age and market we learned that, with a few exceptions, buyers tend to value the same things regardless of age or segment.

This is a somewhat high-level generalization, and we will highlight points of difference, but there are clear trends and preferences that apply across the board. It’s clear that people in these markets are more similar than they are different. Let’s take a closer look.

We asked respondents to rank the importance of various product and service criteria in their purchasing decision-making process. These criteria included price, perceived value, quality/reliability, operating costs, safety, turn/delivery times, and potential performance or efficiency improvements.

 

 

Both market segments are most concerned with quality and reliability, closely followed by safety, which was even more important to business aviation respondents.

While price is more important to GA, it is not the most important factor. In fact, it is similar in importance to efficiency improvements, and both are trailed by turn/delivery times, which matter more to BA than GA.

Moving on to look at the responses by age, we see that older and younger respondents generally value the same things.

 

 

Again, quality/reliability is first (and valued even more by older audiences) and safety is a close second. Perceived value is third, followed by operating costs and then price, which ranks much lower in importance overall. Potential efficiency improvements trail closely behind price, and turn/delivery times rank last, though they are slightly more important to older respondents.

Overall, people want the product to keep working, operate safely, represent a good value, and without costing a lot to operate — if they have to wait to get all of this, they will wait.

Based on this information, marketers should work to quantify and communicate the quality, reliability, safety and operating cost advantages of their products relative to their competition. Don’t make broad claims – use credible data and be specific to establish a clear competitive edge while shaping an overall perception of value.

When considering supplier-related factors such as product features, product benefits, vendor brand/reputation and customer service/support, it’s again evident that there are few differences between BA and GA.

 

 

Product benefits, such as safety, rule as most relevant to purchasing decisions, followed by customer service and support.

Ironically, we see that many aviation marketers focus heavily on product features and company-centric messages — yet these are much less important to their buyers.

These results tell us that aviation marketers who focus on what their customers really care about, and do it in a way that clearly and credibly distinguishes them from other providers, will win every time.

Looking at respondents by age, product benefits are still of top importance, and are even more important to younger buyers. Everyone values product features next, followed by customer service/support (which is substantially more important to those over 50).

Vendor brand/reputation ranks dead last, once again validating that buyers are benefit-oriented.

 

 

One could argue that a good brand is a shortcut to many of the features and factors that are preferred by respondents, but if we take them at their word, this survey sends a clear message to marketers about how to fine tune their marketing objectives, investments and messages for maximum effectiveness.

Coming up next week – from websites and data sheets to sales reps and dealers — find out what information sources are most influential in the purchasing process — and how those sources vary by market and age.

To further improve and approach your marketing in a more strategic fashion, download this easy-to-use marketing planner. It’s one of the most popular resources we offer.