New Ad-ology Automotive Survey: Shows Car Buyers Influenced By All Media - Some More Than Others

WESTERVILLE, Ohio--Thirty-eight percent of U.S. auto buyers are willing to drive more than an hour for their best deal, highlighting the importance of aggressive advertising by dealers. The Fall 2009 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey also found online media is now more influential than social or traditional media on auto purchasing/leasing decisions.

Manufacturer Web sites influenced nearly half of recent purchasers. Search results and online video were also influential, and nearly twice as many males as females reported influence from online video. Traditional media is still influential for automotive sales. Newspaper was the most influential traditional media overall, particularly so for older demographics, Asians, and African Americans.

Social media had the most effect on buyers under the age of 54, females, and higher-income consumers. Auto purchasers who use Twitter say social networks influenced their purchase more than users of other social networks.

“The growing influence of online media has created the opportunity for price-sensitive consumers to shop beyond their own backyard,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Dealerships must promote themselves consistently because they have more competition than might be readily apparent,” Smith said.

Other key findings from the survey:

• 63% of consumers contacted more than one dealer during the decision-making process.
• Nearly 16% of U.S. consumers intend to purchase a new or used vehicle within the next year.
• After the vehicles themselves, the topics most researched online by auto purchasers were: Trade-in values, auto insurance, and gas mileage.
• Television was the most influential traditional media for 25- to 34-year-old auto buyers.
• Blackberry and iPhone users were more than twice as likely than other mobile phone users to have their auto purchase influenced by support of a cause or charity.

The Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey is conducted throughout the year by Ad-ology Research to study on- and off-line media influence on buying decisions.

In addition to the media influence data, the Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Automotive report includes breakdowns by social network and smart phone usage as well as future purchase intentions. The report is available for purchase through the Research Store at Ad-ology.com and includes 50 data charts and marketing insights. An additional report, Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Auto Care is also available.

About Ad-ology Research

Ad-ology Research analyzes key marketing and advertising trends in over 400 industries and what motivates end-customers. The company’s research is used by over 2,000 advertising agencies, media properties and product marketing departments across the United States. Ad-ology Research is a division of Sales Development Services (SDS), Inc. - a Westerville, Ohio firm founded in 1989.

Methodology

Ad-ology Research surveyed an online consumer panel of 1,159 adults in a manner that is 98% representative of the adult population of the United States from September 11-14, 2009. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 2.88 percentage points.

Editor’s Note: The Ad-ology trade name should be hyphenated in all printed references.