The perceived influence of the government, consumers, manufacturers, and sustainability on automotive aftermarket sustainable product development

This study investigated the perceived influence of sustainability, the government, consumers, and manufacturers on sustainable product development in the automotive aftermarket industry. A 54 item on-line survey was administered to 192 Automotive Aftermarket Supplier Association (AASA) and Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) member manufacturer companies. This study was viewed from the automotive aftermarket manufacturer's perspective in order to gain insight on why sustainable product development strategies are implemented. A mixed methodology was utilized for this study. The survey instrument included forced-choice, rating scale, and opened-ended questions in order to explore sustainability and the perceived influencers of automotive aftermarket industry sustainable product development.;The results of this study indicated that the government and manufacturers alone did not have a significant perceived influence on sustainable product development. Sustainability and consumers were both considered as significant predictors of sustainable product development in the automotive aftermarket industry. The government did not have a significant perceived influence on sustainable product development amongst automotive aftermarket manufacturers as moderated through consumers, manufacturers, and sustainability. Since sustainability and consumers are strong predictors of sustainable product development, it can also be implied that any potential perceived government influence on sustainable product development will be driven largely by consumers and sustainability. The implications of this research can be utilized to re-shape automotive sustainable product development strategies.