Men vs. Women in Connected Cars

Do men and women feel the same about connected car data and services?

Driving can be a “hot topic” between men and women, and it’s not much different in the  era of the connected car. When digging in to the data we collected in our recent survey of connected car owners and new car buyers, I noticed that some patterns emerged.

As it turns out men and women feel a bit differently about connected car services and the data that fuels them.  Overall it there is roughly a 10-point difference – with women feeling stronger – when it comes to being “very interested” in connected car services, yet women are more cautious when it comes to sharing data.ֿ

Here’s a recap of our findings:

As you can see from the charts below, features that affect safety and route/ road quality were the ones where the biggest interest and where the gender differences surfaced.ֿ

More women also expressed interest in discounted insurance, contributing to reduced emissions, and parking assistance based on driving data.

Who is more cautious when it comes to sharing data?

Women are about equally willing, or just slightly less willing than men to share their data in order to get most of the new connected car capabilities. The exceptions again suggested safety as their top motivation, and, they were actually more willing than men to share their data for predictive maintenance and faster emergency services responses.

When asked about the importance of specific factors like safety, convenience or cost savings in deciding whether to allow an app to collect data, women’s responses were not significantly different from men’s.

However, women appear to be more cautious than men.  70% of females vs. 59% of males were more likely to say they had chosen not to use an online service or app because they were worried about how their personal information would be handled.

Where do we go from here?

Gender differences aside, as the connected car becomes an everyday reality, safety related services seem to be in the highest demand, closely followed by cost saving and convenient services. As car manufacturers look to innovate and delight drivers, these factors should be kept in mind. And, with such a huge transformation underway in the automotive industry, it’s important to be constantly in touch with what the drivers and passengers hold important.

For more information about the survey and our finding, access the full report here.

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