Highest Scoring Auto Web Sites Produce 35% More Brand Champions

iPerceptions Releases Year End Automotive Web Site Comparative Customer Relationship Satisfaction Report

NEW YORK - Feb. 2, 2006: iPerceptions, North America's leading web focused attitudinal analytics provider, today released year end highlights from their 2005 fourth quarter Auto Industry Web Site Customer Satisfaction Report. The report is based on feedback and comments from over 55,000 actual visitors to branded automotive web sites in North America and represents over 1,300,000 data-points.

iPerceptions identified web site promoters and detractors based on mapping actual visitor responses on a zero to 10-point scale and found that web sites with the highest customer satisfaction ratings converted 35% more of their visitors to brand champions compared to those sites that had the lowest customer satisfaction ratings. Referral ratings for the sites studied ranged from a low of 6.2 to a high of 8.7 with an industry average of 7.2.

Additional findings in this report confirm that 22% of visitors to automotive web sites plan to purchase a vehicle in the next 90 days, reinforcing the importance of a positive web site visit. For this group of in-market buyers, iPerceptions studied the impact of their web site experience on perceptions of brand image, likelihood to request a quote, likelihood to take a test drive and on purchase consideration.

For those visitors purchasing a car in the next 90 days, web sites in the auto sector are better suited to promote actions such as taking a test drive, requesting a quote or impacting a purchase as opposed to building brand image. Only 12% of those purchasing a car in the next 90 days indicated that their web site experience had a strong influence on their image of the brand.

Strong influence on brand 12%
Much more likely to test drive 30%
Much more likely to request a quote 20%
Much more likely to purchase 20%

"iPerceptions 2005 year-end Auto Industry report offers our clients a unique look into the hearts and minds of their actual customers as well as those of their competition on an aggregated basis," said Duff Anderson, Vice President, Research & Development at iPerceptions. "These insights, based on feedback from actual customers in the context of real situations, are different than expert panels or focus groups. They are an excellent example of the powerful new 'voice of the customer' metrics we've developed at iPerceptions," said Mr. Anderson.

About iPerceptions

iPerceptions is North America's leading web focused attitudinal analytics provider. Its webValidator Continuous Listening solution "captures the voice" of the online customer. Using a comprehensive proprietary perceptual framework to evaluate key elements of the visitor experience and predictive algorithms and modeling to identify those attributes that drive satisfaction, the webValidator Continuous Listening solution turns thousands of data points into easy-to-understand strategic and tactical decision support. iPerceptions' clients include BMW, Allrecipes.com, Unilever, Volvo, Reebok, Hilton, GM, L'Oreal, RCA, Mazda, Aerosoles, Land Rover and CompUSA. iPerceptions is based in New York with sales offices in Toronto, Montreal and London, England.