We may all appear like islands in the sea or isolated floating icebergs, separate on the surface… but we all have connections that run deep. The psychologists call it personalities. And I believe that we all have a car personality in us. Yes, yes, I know not all of us have cars… and some of us simply sit in these contraptions and don’t know a thing about them. Despite this, there is this strange car personality hidden in our subliminal zones. Now, as I tell you about these personality types, I’ll explain them to you the way they look at a website. This is simply to facilitate your understanding not just of the sort of people vrooming around you all the time but also how people tend to look at web-portals.

The Carburettor personality

Carburettor, we know is the component that mixes fuel and air and allows the car to perk up to perform. Obviously, this kind of person needs such a volatile combination to light the spark of his imagination… and what I mean is this person isn’t really very imaginative and loves being gently nudged to always choose the right path or course of action.

So when he is browsing a web-portal he would love to read what others write and then try to mix their experiences with the information available there and then get ready for some action. The carburettor personality isn’t the sort who would be the first to see or buy or taste or drink anything… he reads reviews and reads everything about a product and then slowly gets going.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Saloon Car personality

A saloon is a car with 2 front seats, at least 2 rear seats, four doors and a separate boot… which means it is huge and which also means that this person knows that any of his choices is going to affect a lot of people so he tends to go for magnanimous options.

When he browses the net, he tends to like websites that are not stingy with information or with comparisons or hold on to the latest information. He likes open-hearted websites where information sharing is magnanimous, just like he is.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Single Carriageway personality

This one is really a rather simple sounding personality as a road with one lane in each direction is a single carriageway. We meet such people quite often and no, they aren’t stupid. They just cannot understand nor handle multi-tasking and the same goes for their comprehension of facts. They are the sorts who will write smaller and less grammatically complex sentences and will be content to have one dish per meal… I mean, a lavish lay confuses them and their taste-buds as well.

Even a website that has complex navigation or leads you through pages of fancy bits of flash-work and small video clips is going to make them say: ‘Well, what was it that I was looking for? Will someone please guide me to the right page?’

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Manual Gearbox personality

For those lucky few who have forgotten the manual gearbox (that most cars still have), it is that crucial bit of technology where the driver physically selects the gears themselves. Got it? There are a lot of people like that… those who say, ‘Wait, I need to be at this speed before I shift to a higher gear. And listen, you really need to work your brakes, clutch, and accelerator in the right synchronisation before you even think about changing gears, ok?’

These kind of people will look for the pros and the cons and the bits and the bytes and everything that comes before, after, or in their mid… and then and only then will they move ahead and approve a website. If they are browsing a car website, they will want the history, the latest, the news, the juicy bits, the experiences, the interactivity, the chat, and the email response to come as one super power to overwhelm them.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Wheel Spin personality

Such people are generally in the younger age-group and are so much like when ‘the vehicle’s wheels spin round out of control with no grip on the road surface’. They slide from one concept to another at neck-break speed and are always calling it a thrill! They seek thrills and need one thrill after another without a break… or else they will die of boredom, won’t they?

Their web-browsing grunts happily when they login to a website ten times in a day and expect something new to hit them every time. Obviously, this is possible only when a website has a lot of interactive members willing to share their experiences or their views… it is interactive information that will make a website seem like a wheel spin to them and they will come again and again for this thrill!

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Stopping Distance personality

Here are people who are a combination of ‘thinking distance’ and ‘braking distance’ which is the time it takes to stop a vehicle. They are the sorts who look at the pluses and the minuses together and will intuitively know when they need to brake and with what force.

Their behaviour on a website reflects their personality because here too they will seek out information that is relevant, will calmly shift the drama and the emotional appeals to one side as their brains analyses the content with total detachment. They obviously like websites where logic and analysis is present and where one doesn’t have to roll between layers of emotional turf to reach all this.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) personality

We all know that an MPV is a people carrier. It is like a van but designed for personal use and carries more people than a standard car. These people love to help people who don’t have a vehicle of their own. They are large-hearted and share whatever they have… and this includes information. They are obviously very participative.

It is participation that they look for in a website and keep searching for areas where their knowledge or opinion is sought or needed and will readily offer it all. So they are the ones who generally help a website grow its information base. They will love to go to website where such a facility is available or possible.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Convertible personality

You know what a cabriolet is, don’t you? It is a car with a foldable or retractable roof that we all call a convertible. These convertible personalities have the capability to be a protective cover of wise and mature opinions when needed and will be full of open and zesty playfulness at other times… they have these two sets of traits that are easily retractable.

So what are their website preferences? What do they need? How do they behave on a website? They obviously want both… they want a website to ooze with wisdom and they also want it to hop, skip, and jump like a kid does on the playfield!

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Catalytic Converter personality

A catalytic converter is a gadget fitted to the exhaust system helping it to reduce pollution by turning harmful gases into less harmful ones. The personality types that reflect this behaviour are the sorts who are ready with the environmentally correct feedback on just about any issue… and if it is cars they are talking about, they will tell you all you need to know about the benefits of a solar-powered car over one that spouts dark clouds of diesel fumes.

They search for one-on-one interaction on a website and are happily looking to make more friends because that is what gives them the platform they want. A platform where people ask questions and they answer… they can also upload articles full of what we call the essentials for a safe life for the future. They discuss the future and need a site that doesn’t shy away from that sort of discussion.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

The Advanced Stop Lines personality

The marked area on the road at traffic lights that allows cyclists or buses to wait in front of other traffic may make you jealous once in a while… but people who are made up of this trait are the ones who want to keep abreast of all that is new. They never want to be caught in the density of a traffic jam where all you hear is a medley and the cacophony of irritated and irreverent horns.

Their aim of visiting websites is simply to know the latest and the newest and then to hurry forward to wherever they happen to be going… I’m sure they are the sort of people that give website strategy makers sleepless nights. It is because of them that websites have become conscious of not letting the website appear stale at any moment.

So what sort of a web-portal will impress him? Read on and you’ll know soon enough.

CarConnect website_features

CarConnect website_features

The right website: CarConnect

The right sort of website or web-portal will need to be aware of all these personality types and make sure that their strategy does not overlook any of them. The reason is simple… we have a virtual population that doesn’t stay in a single disciplined ratio of these personality types. The virtual population is constantly changing and if there are a lot Catalytic Converters you see today, the next few days just might have an over-whelming number of Wheel Spin types… get it?

Now, the reason I have resorted to using car terminology to explain my personality types is because the website that I have been watching closely for a few weeks now is one that talks about cars. And fortunately, this site has multiple features that include interactivity, news, participation, views, opinions, and the ability to give comparative analysis, if needed. The website makes you feel at home and welcomes you by offering some exclusive space for your own brand of meandering ideas that are connected to cars and driving. You can also find car paint for sale at this website if you’re planning on repainting your car.

My own experience on CarConnect has been rather full of exciting moments… as what every member gets here once he or she uploads a relevant post (a moderator approves posts before they are reflected on the site) are badges and one can graduate from silver to gold and further up the scale. You are free to develop your own car-lovers and driving-lovers network here and the quality of experiences shared aren’t really pedestrian.

The hard-core car lovers will surely love the way every submission is dominated either by the car types and car variants if it is a car that a participant is talking about… or the journey points have to be specified in case a post of a driving experience is being shared. This helps when a person is searching for journey tips for a specified region or area… get the point?

Then finally there is the wonderful opportunity to be able to get PDFs of chosen car variants in a comparative table. This means anyone who is interacting with CarConnect has vital data with him even for offline reading and analysis.

My experience at Autozin was a digital giggle and I loved every moment of it… at the same time, the learning was far greater than I actually expected it to be. Autozin offers an impressive selection of affordable used cars, backed by our dedication to transparency and customer satisfaction. Most important, I did finally realise that there is indeed a car inside me… and I wouldn’t be wrong if I say that there is a car lurking inside each of us.

CarConnect website

CarConnect website

This post is all about my CarConnect experience… and an entry for a blogging contest on indiblogger

Arvind Passey
01 July 2014