The Study of Life Cycle Cost Model using Analysis Hierarchy Process for Car Buyer in Thailand

Abstract

The massive demands in buying the new cars of new generation in Thailand shown that young consumers who start working less than five years have more purchasing power than ever, along with, the support of tax benefits since 2011. However, the abilities to pay installment are less. The household debt have increased significantly high. The new car consumers had not realized for the remaining expenses excluded the capital cost. Therefore, the decision to buy the new car is not suitable for the economic conditions and the real usages. In this paper, researcher characterizes the impact factors of the decision and proposes the possible alternatives for consumers with realistic scenarios. Through a combination of buyer behavior analysis, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and life cycle cost analysis (LCC), researcher demonstrates the decision support system for car buyers. The participants are sixty new employees who works at most five years in IT department of a food corporate industrial in Thailand. The research found that there are five factors of consumer behaviors. The matrix factors of alternatives (brands) are: Toyota 23.82% from Behavior and 20.19% from Product, Proton 13.51% from Price, Honda 19.21% from Distribution channel and 33.18% from Market promotion. From the research results, each alternative brand has influence different aims on the usage when calculated with the LCC, then the consumers are able to choose the right cars more efficiency.