Digital influence study
Understanding the role and influence of various sites across stages in the car shopping process.
new vehicle shoppers are undecided on a vehicle
new vehicle shoppers cross-shop with used vehicles
The average new vehicle shopper spends 105 days in market.
Explore - 50 Days
Initial exploration of brands and vehicles available in the market and just starting to think about next vehicle purchase.
Consider - 28 Days
Actively building a list of brands and vehicles to consider for next vehicle purchase and researching those of interest.
Select - 19 Days
Selected the brand(s) or vehicle(s) on consideration list, visited a dealership to look at vehicles, but have not started the buying process
Buy - 8 Days
Ready to engage with a dealership in negotiations or conversations about sales price, trade-in, and financing.
Explore50 Days
Consider28 Days
Select19 Days
Buy8 Days
New vehicle shoppers spend most time in explore & consider stages because they don't have an exact vehicle in mind
% Auto ads are helpful in decisions
% Researched a brand / vehicle after seeing an advertisement
Recall of auto ads highest on third party sites.
top websites that shoppers recall seeing advertising online:
THIRD PARTY SITES
DEALER WEBSITES
OEM SITES
SOCIAL MEDIA
NEWS AND MEDIA WEBSITES
of new vehicle shoppers in the consider stage have already changed their consideration set
THIRD PARTY SITE
DEALER SITE
OEM SITES
SEARCH SITES
SOCIAL MEDIA
New vehicles shoppers prefer third party sites over all others
28%
OEM SITE
19%
Dealer Site
12%
Search Site
3%
SOCIAL MEDIA
Third Party Sites are viewed as trusted and unbiased
Top benefits for each site
Third Party
- Unbiased
- Trustworthy
- Reliable
- Knowledgeable
OEM
- Knowledgeable
- Detailed Information
- Accurate Information
- Comprehensive
Dealer
- Accurate Information
Search
- Easy to find content
Social
- Not a top site for any benefits
Third Party
- Unbiased
- Trustworthy
- Reliable
- Knowledgeable
OEM
- Knowledgeable
- Detailed Information
- Accurate Information
- Comprehensive
Dealer
- Accurate Information
Search
- Easy to find content
Social
- Not a top site for any benefits
63% of shoppers interact with us before purchasing their new vehicle. Cut through the clutter and reach more shoppers when it matters most in their journey.
Digital influence study
- This online study was conducted during June 2019 among 1,800 new vehicle shoppers AND recent new vehicle purchasers.
- Ages 18-70 years old
- Shoppers: plan to purchase within next 6 months
- Buyers: recently purchased in the past 6 months
- Research completed by KS&R, an independent market research firm headquartered in Syracuse, NY.
They have an unbiased opinion and have a larger amount of information and different types of cars and brands.
Every brand is at your fingertips. You don’t have to go from site to site which is tedious.