‘Careful lady owner’ is the single phrase most likely to deter readers of used-car ads from buying the car in question, according to a study by Craigslist, the free classified ads website, which features over a million car ads worldwide a month.
Men find ‘careful lady owners’ almost twice as big a sales turn-off as do women, for whom the most off-putting element of used-car ads are abbreviations like ‘PAS’ and ‘ABS’ (short for Power-Assisted Steering and Anti-Lock Braking System respectively), which they may not understand. Such initials are the second biggest turn-off for people overall.
Both sexes are also put off by such Arthur Dayley-isms as ‘fully loaded’ and ‘lovely runner’.
A spokesmen for Craigslist, Mr Buckmaster comments “We’re not sure what people have against careful lady owners, but it sounds like such owners should consider another approach, especially if they’re hoping to sell to men.”
‘No time-wasters’ and ‘first to see will buy’ are the two other used-car ad chestnuts to make the six top turn-offs and car-ad clichés that risked doing more harm than good included, ‘Genuine Reason for Sale’, and ‘Priced To Sell’.
I know what they have against this phrase. Quite simply its because men cannot comprehend the idea that women are literally careful drivers, therefore their cars are in pristine condition.
Wakey wakey men, wake up to reality!
FemaleFirst Jackie Violet