Big Like America

The craze for small cars may sweep the world, but will it reach the American heartland? In the realm of psychology, the choice between a big car and a small one is based not just on how much money we have or how many seats we need; it speaks to who we are as human beings and individuals. The big car may be too deeply ingrained in the American psyche to give up, says Darren Dahl, a consumer-behavior consultant and professor of marketing at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business. He spoke with NEWSWEEK's Karen Pinchin. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Why do people buy the cars they do?
Darren Dahl: In North America vehicles mean a lot to the consumer. We're very much a car culture. We know that people spend hours in their vehicles commuting, up to two hours a day for some individuals. So the brand of the vehicle, the hype around a vehicle, it says a lot about you.

How so?
Cars have a very big role to play within what I would call the extended self: how you view yourself and who you are in the world. And so when you talk about big cars, or small cars, these obviously have a big part to play in defining who you are as an individual. If you're someone who likes to have some feeling of security, power, control, etc., then a large vehicle can provide that.

Does that mean that the people who have historically bought trucks are not likely to downsize with the environment in mind?
Absolutely. There was an instance in American culture where a very famous representative from the state of Texas was holding up pictures of vehicles, pictures of little European cars, in Congress and saying "This is not what we drive." It's not what traditionally America was all about. Trucks have been marketed as powerful vehicles for years and years, and it's important to people to have that power, that ability.

Why is that?
Part of it is because SUVs are big vehicles, and you're up above traffic, you feel like you can squish anything in front of you, although you'll probably tip over and die. But you look at some of these small cars, the Smart car or the Mini [Cooper], and you automatically think, "Man, if I get hit in that, I don't know what's going to happen to me." It's just an automatic concern. But if lots and lots of people are driving them then it's not going to be a problem.