Visitar URL original
The Car Cushion Hypothesis: Bigger Cars Lead to More Risk Taking—Evidence from Behavioural Data | Journal of Consumer Policy | Springer Nature Link Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The Car Cushion Hypothesis: Bigger Cars Lead to More Risk Taking—Evidence from Behavioural Data

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
View saved research
Journal of Consumer Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Car traffic and accidents involving cars create an enormous societal cost, particularly in terms of negative consequences for public health. Mitigating these effects is a daily concern for public and private institutions and people around the world. At least a subset of accidents is attributable to the amount of risk drivers allow in their driving and in related behaviour like mobile phone use or substance abuse. Our study looks at the effect of car size on risk taking. While literature highlights several behavioural effects of car size, the direction of causality of these effects is not always clear, and empirical evidence is lacking. Two behavioural and consequential studies support that car size affects risk taking in driving and that this increase in risk taking generalizes to other domains as well. Based on these results and in line with literature showing that social stability and security can affect financial risk taking, we propose the “car cushion hypothesis.” This hypothesis suggests that bigger cars make people feel more secure, which affects their behaviour in terms of generalized risk taking. We discuss policy implications aimed at contributing to reducing the societal and public health cost of car traffic.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, books and news in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

Data Availability

Data available upon request.

Notes

  1. http://www.greendino.nl.

  2. Images were selected from http://media.daimler.com/.

References

  • Abay, K. A., Paleti, R., & Bhat, C. R. (2013). The joint analysis of injury severity of drivers in two-vehicle crashes accommodating seat belt use endogeneity. Transportation Research Part b: Methodological, 50, 74–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ACEA. (2020). Co2-Based Motor Vehicle Taxes in the European Union. https://www.acea.auto/fact/overview-co2-based-motor-vehicle-taxes-in-the-european-union/. Accessed 3 Feb 2022.

  • Adams, J. (1999). Cars, cholera, and cows: The management of risk and uncertainty. Policy Analysis, 355, 1–49.

  • Beisswingert, B. M., Zhang, K., Goetz, T., & Fischbacher, U. (2016). Spillover effects of loss of control on risky decision-making. PLoS ONE, 11(3), e0150470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berneiser, J., Senkpiel, C., Steingrube, A., & Gölz, S. (2021). The role of norms and collective efficacy for the importance of techno-economic vehicle attributes in Germany. Journal of Consumer Behaviour., 20, 1113–1128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bone, S. A., & Mowen, J. C. (2006). Identifying the traits of aggressive and distracted drivers: A hierarchical trait model approach. Journal of Consumer Behaviour: An International Research Review, 5(5), 454–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CarGurus.com. (2020). Car size comparison: 1970 vs. 2020 vehicles. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-8986069/Parking-space-sizes-havent-increased-1970s-todays-cars-55-bigger.html. Accessed 20 July 2021.

  • Chen, S., Kuhn, M., Prettner, K., & Bloom, D. E. (2019). The global macroeconomic burden of road injuries: Estimates and projections for 166 countries. The Lancet Planetary Health, 3(9), e390–e398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craciun, G., Shin, D., & Zhang, J. Q. (2017). Safe driving communication: A regulatory focus perspective. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 16(6), e50–e60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Onofrio, G., Becker, B., & Woolard, R. H. (2006). The impact of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Clinics, 24(4), 925–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dozza, M., Schindler, R., Bianchi-Piccinini, G., & Karlsson, J. (2016). How do drivers overtake cyclists? Accident Analysis & Prevention, 88, 29–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eboli, L., Mazzulla, G., & Pungillo, G. (2017). How to define the accident risk level of car drivers by combining objective and subjective measures of driving style. Transportation Research Part f: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 49, 29–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, R. W., Shults, R. A., Sleet, D. A., Nichols, J. L., Thompson, R. S., & Rajab, W. (2004). Effectiveness of mass media campaigns for reducing drinking and driving and alcohol-involved crashes: A systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27(1), 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EPA. (2021). The 2020 automotive trends report. (EPA-420-R-21–003). https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends. Accessed 3 Feb 2022.

  • Evans, L. (1985). Driver behavior revealed in relations involving car mass. Human behavior and traffic safety (pp. 337–358). Springer.

  • Fitzsimons, G. J. (2008). Editorial: A death to dichotomizing. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(1), 5–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine, H., & Gourlet, Y. (1997). Fatal pedestrian accidents in france: A typological analysis. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 29(3), 303–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forgas, J. P. (1995). Mood and judgment: The affect infusion model (AIM). Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, C., & Tannenbaum, D. (2011). The elusive search for stable risk preferences. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, M. T., & Gumus, G. (2018). Watch for motorcycles! The effects of texting and handheld bans on motorcyclist fatalities. Social Science & Medicine, 216, 81–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, M. T., & Gumus, G. (2021). Death on the job: The Great Recession and work-related traffic fatalities. Social Science & Medicine, 280, 113979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamble, T., & Walker, I. (2016). Wearing a bicycle helmet can increase risk taking and sensation seeking in adults. Psychological Science, 27(2), 289–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.

  • Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52(12), 1280–1300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horswill, M. S., & Coster, M. E. (2010). The effect of vehicle characteristics on drivers’ risk-taking behaviour. Ergonomics, 45(2), 85–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsee, C., & Weber, E. (1999). Cross-national differences in risk preference and lay predictions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12, 165–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, J. R., & McClelland, G. H. (2001). Misleading heuristics and moderated multiple regression models. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(1), 100–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauriola, M., Panno, A., Levin, I. P., & Lejuez, C. W. (2014). Individual differences in risky decision making: A meta-analysis of sensation seeking and impulsivity with the balloon analogue risk task. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 27(1), 20–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lejuez, C. W., Read, J. P., Kahler, C. W., Richards, J. B., Ramsey, S. E., Stuart, G. L., Strong, D. R., Brown, R. A. (2002). Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8(2), 75–84.

  • Levav, J., & Argo, J. J. (2010). Physical contact and financial risk taking. Psychological Science, 21(6), 804–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loewenstein, G. F., Weber, E. U., Hsee, C. K., & Welch, N. (2001). Risk as feelings. Psychological Bulletin, 127(2), 267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyvis, T., & Van Osselaer, S. M. J. (2018). Increasing the power of your study by increasing the effect size. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(5), 1157–1173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NHTSA. (2020). Early estimates of motor vehicle traffic fatalities and fatality rate by sub-categories through June 2020. (DOT HS 813 054). https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/813054. Accessed 3 Feb 2022.

  • NSC. (2019). Bicycle deaths. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/bicycle-deaths/. Accessed 16 July 2021.

  • Peck, J., Barger, V. A., & Webb, A. (2013). In search of a surrogate for touch: The effect of haptic imagery on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23(2), 189–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PwC. (2020). 2020 PwC Global Automotive Tax Guide (P. G. A. T. Network, Trans.). PricewaterhouseCoopers.

  • Richter, M., Pape, H.-C., Otte, D., & Krettek, C. (2005). Improvements in passive car safety led to decreased injury severity–a comparison between the 1970s and 1990s. Injury, 36(4), 484–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santaella-Tenorio, J., Wheeler-Martin, K., DiMaggio, C. J., Castillo-Carniglia, A., Keyes, K. M., Hasin, D., & Cerdá, M. (2020). Association of recreational cannabis laws in Colorado and Washington state with changes in traffic fatalities, 2005–2017. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(8), 1061–1068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheiner, J., Faust, N., Helmer, J., Straub, M., & Holz-Rau, C. (2020). What’s that garage for? Private parking and on-street parking in a high-density urban residential neighbourhood. Journal of Transport Geography, 85, 102714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shilling, F., & Waetjen, D. (2020). Special Report (Update): Impact of COVID19 mitigation on numbers and costs of California traffic crashes. Transportation Research Board Weekly, 1–11. https://trid.trb.org/view/1701950.

  • Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236(4799), 280–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenkamp, J.-B.E.M., & Baumgartner, H. (1992). The role of optimum stimulation level in exploratory consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 434–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J. A., & Walton, D. (2008). Vehicle size and driver perceptions of safety. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2(4), 260–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations.

  • Van Ommeren, J., Rietveld, P., Zagha Hop, J., & Sabir, M. (2013). Killing kilos in car accidents: Are external costs of car weight internalised? Economics of Transportation, 2(2), 86–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, B., Deveaux, L., Li, X., Marshall, S., Chen, X., & Stanton, B. (2014). The impact of youth, family, peer and neighborhood risk factors on developmental trajectories of risk involvement from early through middle adolescence. Social Science & Medicine, 106, 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasielewski, P., & Evans, L. (1985). Do drivers of small cars take less risk in everyday driving? Risk Analysis, 5(1), 25–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, E. U., & Milliman, R. A. (1997). Perceived risk attitudes: Relating risk perception to risky choice. Management Science, 43(2), 123–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2018). Global status report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization.

  • Winston, C., & Mannering, F. (1984). Consumer demand for automobile safety. The American Economic Review, 74(2), 316–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D. P. (1997). Safety and the car size effect: A fundamental explanation. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 29(2), 139–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, W. Y., Liao, Y. K., & Chatwuthikrai, A. (2014). Applying conjoint analysis to evaluate consumer preferences toward subcompact cars. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(6), 2782–2792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasin, Y. J., Grivna, M., & Abu-Zidan, F. M. (2020). Reduction of pedestrian death rates: A missed global target. World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 15(1), 35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zou, X., & Scholer, A. A. (2016). Motivational affordance and risk-taking across decision domains. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(3), 275–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editorial team and two reviewers for their helpful guidance in improving this manuscript.

Funding

Financial support for data collection was provided by the Belgian Ministry of Science BELSPO Grant FSB-CBSM SD/TA/11.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing and Sales Management, IESEG School of Management, 3 rue de la Digue, 59000, Lille, France

    B. Claus

  2. Department of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business School, Nydalsveien 37, 0484, Oslo, Norway

    L. Warlop

Authors
  1. B. Claus
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Warlop
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Claus.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Claus, B., Warlop, L. The Car Cushion Hypothesis: Bigger Cars Lead to More Risk Taking—Evidence from Behavioural Data. J Consum Policy 45, 331–342 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-022-09511-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-022-09511-w

Keywords