Customer perceptions of recycled materials in the automotive industry

Sustainability, despite its importance in today’s society, remains a highly controversial topic to many companies, including automotive manufactures. Filled with irregular standards, various expectations of customers and different approaches of companies, sustainability shapes today’s business in multiple ways. Car manufacturers are making efforts in order to reduce their environmental impact. The integration of recycled materials in vehicles has been flagged as one of the most accessible approaches in order to combat environmental concerns. However, its relevance for customers and their perception about it remain largely unclear. This thesis addresses this topic and shows how the use of recycled materials influences customer perceptions of automotive brand’s sustainability. This research uses a qualitative approach research design in order to generate valuable findings. By making use of semi-structures expert interviews, it aims to gather insights from front-line employees who have daily interactions with customers. By making use of qualitative content, the interview data were analysed to identify recurring themes, as well as patterns, which are related to sustainability perception, material evaluation, as well as communication practices of manufacturers. The findings of the research show that recycled materials in automotives are widely accepted by customers as sustainability practice. However, how their usage impacts the sustainability perception remains uncertain, and depends broadly on open and proactive communication, as customers rarely notice integrated recycled materials by themselves. Other factors such as EV alternatives of the internal combustion engine vehicles remain the factors that have a significant impact on sustainability perception. On the contrary to the theoretical findings, this study suggests that customers do not necessarily associate recycled materials with lower product or material quality. Overall, the results indicate that recycled materials serve more as supporting actions of sustainability, rather than key drivers of brand perception. Their impact is, however, greater when they are embedded with a holistic sustainability strategy that focuses on transparent communication, together with technological innovations.