Consumers Race Online to Conduct Research for Car Purchases

58 Percent of Respondents Use the Internet to Gather Information or Shop for a Car

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 8 -- When it comes to the car buying process, the Internet is an important resource, according to independent research conducted by Feedback Research (www.feedbackresearch.com), a division of Claria Corporation (www.claria.com).

Feedback Research surveyed a random sampling of Claria's tens of millions of anonymous software users to gain insight into new car buyers' behavior and the factors that drive car purchases. Additionally, Feedback Research analyzed the actual online behavior of survey respondents to determine which sites were most popular during the July 1, 2005 - October 1, 2005 timeframe. Research indicates that Autobytel.com topped the list with 22 percent of respondents viewing the site in the course of the research period. Other popular sites included Autoweb.com (20 percent), Carsdirect.com (20 percent), Automotive.com (14 percent) and Kelley Blue Book (14 percent).

Internet Popular for Gathering Vehicle Pricing

The Internet is a valuable resource for new car buyers with 58 percent of respondents citing the Internet as their destination of choice for gathering information for their vehicle purchase.

   *    Among new car buyers who used the Internet as an information source,
        58 percent were focused on finding pricing information on the cars
        they were interested in buying.
   *    Other popular reasons for using the Internet to research car
        purchases included being able to compare different vehicles (55
        percent) and conduct general research on vehicle specifications (53
        percent).
   *    62.5 percent of respondents viewed an Auto category site during the
        research period, viewing an average of 4.79 domains.

  Price Drives New Car Purchases

The majority of respondents (58 percent) said that price was the most important factor in making a car purchase.

   *    Other important factors included the size of the car (51 percent),
        reputation of the car manufacturer (48 percent) and design/style of
        the car (46 percent).

  Only One Car Type but Several Brands Considered

   *    The majority of respondents (63 percent) knew from the beginning
        which type of vehicle they wanted to purchase and only considered
        that one type.
   *    54% of respondents decided on their make/brand of vehicle after
        shopping/researching different makes/brands.

  Car Purchases: A Speedy Decision for Most

   *    61 percent of respondents indicated that less than two months passed
        between the time they started seriously thinking about getting a new
        car and the time they purchased one.
   *    34 percent indicated that they started less than one month prior to
        their vehicle purchase while 27 percent started about one to two
        months prior to their purchasing decision.

For more information and insights into this study contact Mandy Mladenoff of SHIFT Communications, LLC - 415.591.8420, mmladenoff@shiftcomm.com.

About Claria Corporation: Founded in 1998, Claria Corporation is a leader in online behavioral marketing. Claria's behavioral data platform provides Web publishers and advertisers with the ability to display content and advertisements targeted to anonymous, individual consumers, based on their interests. Claria provides marketing research and business insights through its Feedback Research division, delivering in-depth analytics of consumer Web usage patterns across the Internet. Claria's Vista Marketing Services division is dedicated to bringing consumers a more relevant and highly personalized Web experience. Claria headquarters are located in Redwood City, CA, with U.S. offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., and International offices in the U.K. and Asia.

About Feedback Research: Feedback Research, a division of the Claria Corporation, offers a breakthrough way to conduct one-to-one research with tens of millions of consumers while they surf the Web. With access to the wealth of information and respondents from Claria's GAIN Network, Feedback Research can help advertisers find out more about customers because advertisers can create samples based on what consumers actually do online rather than using self-reported data.