Announcement

Google Global Automotive Study Australia 2009

New research shows automotive customers search online and don't mind taking advice from the car salesman

19 August 2009 – Google Australia is today announcing the results of its Google Global Automotive Study Australia 2009, which examines the way Australian consumers research their automotive purchases.

The study - conducted by Netpop Research - shows that consumers obtain information from a suite of sources when making the decision to buy a car. When making a large purchase, such as a car, 51% of all new and used car buyers start their research online with 88% using the internet at some stage, and 48% of new car buyers said the internet was influential in discovering new vehicle brands. Other sources where people obtain information include:

• Video - 44% of new car buyers watched an online auto video on video hosting sites such as YouTube; 53% watched a video on a car manufacturer's website. This trend is growing.
• Social media and user-generated content - 31% of new car buyers who researched online rely on user-generated content with consumer ratings and reviews the most popular.
• Car dealerships - 26% of people start their research at the car dealership.

When searching online, a staggering 79% of people surveyed said they entered specific brand keywords, such as Toyota or Mazda. This reinforces that brand awareness builds offline as part of wider media campaigns. Another interesting finding was that people are relatively focused when searching for their next automotive purchase and only consider 3.4 brands on average. Of those brands, Toyota was the most considered.

When it comes to other sources that influence consumers' decisions, the findings show that 'people power' is key:

• Family and friends cited as a key influencer - 36% of people looking for new cars and 51% of people looking for used cars. This trend is slowly declining.
• The car salesman is still important with 42% of people saying they were influential in getting them to change their choice of dealer, for better or for worse. Most people still go to the car dealership to arrange a test drive (car purchasers go on 2.9 test drives on average), providing the opportunity for a car salesman to influence a purchaser's decision.

Colin Barnard, Auto Industry Marketing Manager, comments, "The research shows that when people set out looking for a car, 62% of those looking to buy a new car and 63% looking for a used car have not decided which car they want. Their decision making process starts with researching online, where they narrow down their list of cars.

"The auto industry has a rare advantage in that many customers want to look, feel and drive their purchase before making a final decision, so there is an opportunity for the salesman to influence the customer's decision when they are deciding on the last one or two brands. Car manufactureres need to consider how they can reach their customers online before they step into the dealership to make their final decision.

"An emerging trend is the rise in video content. There is a huge opportunity for car manufacturers to utilise their existing TVCs online where people are researching. The automotive area is saturated as far as offline advertising goes, which has resulted in strong brand awareness. It's important to continue that momentum online, which is evidently where customers are taking their next step in the purchasing cycle. Brand managers should ensure offline campaigns are visible online through paid for search advertising and through the use of online video."

- ENDS -
^ Survey conducted by Netpop Research on behalf of Google Australia. Methodology includes: Survey of 501 Australian adult new car buyers (55% male; 45% female) and 510 used car buyers (51% male; 49% female), nationally representative sample.