Millions of new cars are sold every year in the United States. American consumers love the variety of automobiles they can choose from, but this can also be a problem. For the average new car buyer, the number of choices can be overwhelming. How do you choose between getting a Honda Civic or a Ford Focus? What about between a Dodge Durango and a Buick Rendezvous? What will you base your choice on? This question also has a multitude of options. .
For an expert, characteristics like engine size, cargo volume, and fuel capacity can help narrow down and eventually help to pick an automobile. But most people do not know nor do they care about the differences between cars in these specifications. For most consumers, it doesn't matter what the exact size of the trunk is, as long as it is large enough to carry the groceries. Many consumers will end up asking friends for recommendations on their new car purchase, but recommendations can only help to a certain point. There is always the option of going to different dealers and getting their recommendations as well, but dealers will almost always recommend the cars they are selling. So an outside perspective from a knowledgeable source is the best bet when trying to buy a new car.
There are hundreds of different magazines and websites designed to help consumers choose a car. Some have editor reviews with their recommendations, others have customer reviews, and still others have safety and customer satisfaction ratings. The amount of information available can be just as overwhelming as the original number of cars to choose from. And it is a time consuming and tedious job to search through all of this information to finally pick the right car. There has to be a simpler way to sort through the available information to pick a car.
And there is. For the Decision Support System we designed, our choice problem is picking a new car from 2003 in the United States.
