Research by the Shu Te University of Science and Technology in Greater Kaohsiung recently found that Mercedes-Benz and BMW car owners in Taiwan vastly prefer the numbers five, six, eight and nine on their license plates, while they seek to avoid the numbers zero, one, two and four.
Su Teng-hu (蘇登呼), a professor in the university’s Department of Marketing Management, and some of his students said they were interested in the phenomenon of the public’s obsession over the numbers on their license plates, causing the sale of license plate numbers by the Directorate-General of Motor Vehicles to rake in extra income for the national coffers every year.
Su said Chinese culture favored certain numbers, as the pronunciations of the numbers are almost direct homonyms to Chinese words symbolizing luck or auspiciousness.
Photo: Su Fu-nan, Taipei Times
The number six, for instance, represents being auspicious, while the number four is similar to the word “death” (死), Su said, adding that the number eight sounds like the Chinese word fa (發), which is often seen in auspicious phrases such as fa cai (發財) — to wish someone greater wealth.
The number nine, which sounds like the Chinese word jiu (久), is representative of longevity, Su said.
Real-estate agents have also discovered that apartment buildings on the eighth floor or with the number eight in the address usually sell six or seven days more quickly than others, Su said, adding that they also often sell for slightly higher prices as well.
The research showed that many car owners prefer the number five over the number seven, as five is usually synonymous with good luck, especially as it is similar to the pronunciation of the word “I” or “me” (我) in Chinese.
The similarity in pronunciation plays a great part in the number’s appreciation, especially when it is in sequence with other numbers, Su said, pointing to sequences such as 5889, which could be taken to mean “I will make money for a long time” (我發發久); 8585, meaning “Make me rich, Make me rich” (發我發我); and 5666, meaning “I’m on a smooth streak” (我順順順).
Of the interviewees, 1.7 percent disliked the number four, while the numbers one and two were disliked as well.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz owners had different preferences over the second digit on their license plate, with Benz owners having a higher preference for the number five, which is less popular with BMW owners, Su said.
BMW owners, on the other hand, favor the number seven for their second digit, while Benz owners rarely choose the number, Su said.
Meanwhile, the research has piqued the interest of car lot managers, who said they would be using the research as case material when teaching their sales agents how to formulate their sales strategies, adding that they would consider using the research to choose the license plates for sale cars.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS