2011 automotive shopping behavior study

agenda
1

key findings shopping overview digital use search, mobile, video impact

key findings

key findings
todays vehicle shoppers:

1 2 3 4 5 6

research and decide faster use an increasingly diverse set of online tools search to navigate and compare expect dealer sites to be as helpful as OEM sites watch videos to discover and compare brands rely on their mobile devices to research on the go

study methodology

methodology- compete/ polk

Phase 1 Survey automotive consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 12 months and identify attitudes with respect to:
The influence of automotive online video, mobile devices/tablets, social networking, etc. with respect to automotive research, shopping and purchase decisions The importance of in-vehicle technology How different automotive consumer segment (vehicle, price, etc) conducted their research and shopping process prior to purchase

Phase 2 Compete matched clickstream behavior from its panel of 2 million online consumers to Polk vehicle registration data from January 2007 through December 2010. Compete used this matched data set to evaluate the impact of online automotive research on consideration and purchasing decisions.
6

methodology- compete/ polk phase 1

Significance Testing

For 2-variable significance testing, two asterisks (**) indicates significance at the 95% level and one asterisk (*) indicates significance at the 90% level For multiple variable significance testing, uppercase letters indicate significance at the 95% level and lowercase letters indicate significance at the 90% level Base sizes under 30 were removed from the study and any base sizes between 30-50 marked as low sample

methodology- compete/ polk phase 2

Google, R.L. Polk and Compete created a new dataset to study new vehicle retail registrations

Internet Browsers

New Vehicle Retail Car Registrations

86,241 new vehicle retail car registrations with 6 consecutive months of clickstream data from January 2007 December 2010
Source: R.L. Polk & Co., Compete Inc.

shopping overview
compete/ polk study

81% of shoppers decide within 3 months

The shopping window has compressed
2009 2010

LESS THAN A WEEK

1 WEEK TO 2 WEEKS TO <2 WEEKS <1 MONTH

1 TO <3 MONTHS

3 TO < 6 MONTHS

6 MONTHS OR MORE

2010

2009

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. O8 - How much time passed from when you first started researching or shopping online to when you actually made a purchase? Please select one answer only. Base: New purchasers (n=942) versus used purchasers (n=644)
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81% of shoppers decide within 3 months

The shopping window has compressed
2009 2010

LESS THAN A MONTH

1 TO 3 MONTHS

3 MONTHS OR MORE

2010

2009

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. O8 - How much time passed from when you first started researching or shopping online to when you actually made a purchase? Please select one answer only. Base: New purchasers (n=942) versus used purchasers (n=644)
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technology is important to luxury purchasers

over half of high-luxury purchasers found in-vehicle technology extremely important Importance of In-Vehicle Technology
100%

20%
80%

13% 25% A 23% 56% AB 24% aC 25% C Extremely important Very important Somewhat important 16% A 33% aC Not very important 24% Not at all important

23%
60%

40%

26%

20%

13% 17% 24% BC 12% a 6% New Purchasers (n=942) Low-price (n = 559) (A) Mid-luxury (n = 306) (B) 9% 3% 7% High-luxury (n = 77) (C)

0%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. T1 - In general, how important were in-vehicle technologies (e.g., built in GPS, Bluetooth, parking assist, etc.) to you when researching or shopping for cars/trucks? Base: New purchasers by vehicle purchase price; highluxury, $50k+ (n=77), mid-luxury, $30-50k (n=306), low-price, <$30k (n=559)
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safety, utility, fuel efficiency gain interest

Importance of Specific In-Vehicle Technology Features
Automatic service reminders
40% 40% 35% 34%
34%

Voice-activated controls
Hybrid/alternative f uel source technology Heads-up windshield display Automatic parking assist/parking alert systems On-board multi-inf ormation display system Bluetooth capabilities/mp3 device integration Accident avoidance systems
27% 26% 25% 21% 16% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

32%

Live Internet access

GPS/navigation systems Satellite/HD Radio

40%

45%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. T3 - How important were each of the following in-vehicle technologies to you while you researched or shopped for cars/trucks? Please select the one response that best applies to each row. Base: New purchasers (n=942)
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shoppers discover in-vehicle technology on OEM sites

Online Sources Used to Research Technology
Car/truck manuf acturer websites
Dealership websites Prof essional automotive review websites Search engines Third-party automotive websites Consumer generated online reviews Video sharing websites Social networking websites Newspaper/Magazine websites
0% 5% 7% 7% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 9% 12%
18% 26%

37% 30%

20%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. T5 - Which of the following online sources, if any, did you use to look for information on in-vehicle technologies in the past 12 months? Please select all that apply. Base: New purchasers (n=942)
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role of online research

15

consumers are moving beyond traditional sites

digital research behavior has diversified
OEM and 3rd Party Site Purchaser Visitation (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers 6-Months Prior to Purchase)

16%

16%

24%

29%

84%

84%

76%

71%

other sites oem and/or 3rd party sites

2007 2008 2009 2010

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2007-December 2010

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consumers are moving beyond traditional sites

digital research behavior has diversified
OEM and 3rd Party Site Purchaser Visitation 84% 77% (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers 6-Months Prior76% Purchase) to
84% 13% 68% 16% 67%

71% 12%

72%

71% 15%

16% 19% 13% 12% 7% 7% 57% 57% 56% 84% 84% 84% 84%19% 84% 84% 84% 61% 77% 61% 61% 77% 9% 59% 77% 59% 9% 77%59% 76% 76% 76% 76% 15% 14% 72% 16% 13% 72% 16% 13% 1% 71% 71% 71% 13% 16% 16%48% 68% 67% 68% 67% 68% 48% 48% 67% 67% 16% 16% 19% 16% 19% 16% 42% 42% 13% 7% 12% 57% 7%7% 12% 57% 7% 7% 13% 2% 12% 7% 56% 57% 57% 7% 12% 57% 15% 19% 15% 19% 56% 57% 57% 56% 19% 19% 19% 19% 61% 61% 61%9%9% 61% 61% 59% 61% 59% 61% 59% 9%9% 61% 9% 61% 59% 61% 59% 9% 61% 59% 9% 9% 9% 15% 15% 15% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 48% 42% 42% 42% 42% 42% 42% 42% 42%

14%

71%

42% 15% 56%

14% 14%

42% 42%

OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party Automotive and/or Automotive and/or Automotive and/or Automotive and/or Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites
2007 2008 2009 2010

2008 Purchasers OEM Sites SitesParty Party 3rd Party OEM Sites Party OEM Site 2009OEM Sites 3rd 3rd Party Sites SitesParty OEM OEM Mrd3rd Party Party Party3rd Party Party3rd3rd 3rd Party Party3rd Party Party3rd3rd 3rdPurchasers SitesParty Party 2010 Purchasers 3rd Pa Sites 3rd 2007 Purchasers 3rd 3rd Party Party3rd 3rd Party3rd 3rd Party Party3rd Party3rd 3rd 3rd Party 3rd Party OEM OEM OEM OEM 3rd Party OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites Automotive and/orAutomotive and/orAutomotive and/or Automotive Automotive Automotive and/or and/orAutomotive and/orAutomotive and/or Automotive and/or and/orAutomotive and/orAutomotive and/ Automotive and/or and/orAutomotive and/or Shared OEM Sites Only 3rd Party Sites Only Sites OEM Sites Sites Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites Sites OEM OEM Sites OEM OEM Sites OEM OEM Sites OEM S EM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites Sites
Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2007-December 2010

008 Purchasers 2009 Purchasers 2010 Purchasers 2007 Purchasers 2007 Purchasers 2008 Purchasers 2008 Purchasers 2009 Purchasers 2009 Purchasers 2010 Purchasers 2008 Purchasers 2009 Purchasers 2010 Purchasers
Shared
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OEM Sites Only Shared 3rd Party Sites Only OEM Sites Only Shared 3rd OEM Sites Only Party Sites Only Shared 3rd Party Sites Only OEM

3rd Party Sites Only

oem/ 3rd party visitation peaked during purchase month

OEM and 3rd Party Site Visitation by Purchase Month (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers 6-Months Prior to Purchase)
45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20%
15%

39% 34%

25% 21% 17% 13% 13% 11% 17% 18% 20% 22%

10% 5% 0%

6 months prior

5 months prior

4 months prior OEM Sites

3 months prior 3rd Party Sites

2 months prior

Within the month of purchase

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2010-December 2010
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purchasers looked for offers on OEM sites

offers, BYO and locate a dealer are used by about a third of purchasers
OEM KPI Usage (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers Anytime During the 6-Months Prior to Purchase)
40% 35% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Offers BYO Locate a dealer Search inventory Compare Payment estimator RAQ Brochure Trade-in 18% 35%

28%

17% 14% 13%

6%

6%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2010-December 2010
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YOY Comparison- OEM Site Behavior

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Build Your Own Offers Locate a Dealer Request a Quote Search Inventory Payment Estimator 2009 2010

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2010-December 2010
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search inventory most-used 3rd party tool

a greater portion of shoppers searched inventory on 3rd party sites than OEM sites

3rd Party KPI Usage (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers Anytime During the 6-Months Prior to Purchase)
45% 40% 35%
30%

42%

32%
29%

25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Inventory Model Trade-in information

22%

22% 18% 15% 13% 11% 10%

8% 5% 5% 4% 2%

RAQ

Reviews

BYO

Photo gallery

Locate a dealer

Offers

Financial Compare Calculator

Car Sell your car Blog finder

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2010-December 2010
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YOY Comparison- 3rd Party Site Behavior

45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 2009 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Inventory Model Info Trade In Request a Quote Reviews 2010

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2010-December 2010
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dealer site visitation continues to climb

usage has doubled to 35m since 2007

OEM and 3rd Party Site Overall Visitation (Clickstream Data, Millions of Visitors; January 2007-December 2010)
600 500

466

494

482

472

400

300

210
200

179

197

196

100

17
0

25

34

35

OEM 2007 2008

3rd Party 2009 2010

Dealerships

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2007-December 2010, Millions of Visitors
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nearly 1 in 3 purchasers visited dealership sites

Dealership Site Visitation by Purchase Year (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers Anytime During the 6-Months Prior to Purchase)
35%

31%
30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

22%

23%

23%

2007 Purchasers

2008 Purchasers

2009 Purchasers

2010 Purchasers

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2007-December 2010
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dealership visitation peaked in purchase month

Dealership Site Visitation by Purchase Month (Clickstream Data; Share of Purchasers 6-Months Prior to Purchase)
25%

23%

20%

+64%
14%

15%

10%

5%
5%

6% 4% 5% 4%

6%

7%

7%

8%

8%

0%

6 months prior

5 months prior

4 months prior 2009 Purchasers

3 months prior 2010 Purchasers

2 months prior

Within the month of purchase

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, January 2009-December 2010
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search impact

26

purchasers search to navigate to online sources

search directs at least a third of traffic within 3 months of purchase

share of new buyers referred to OEM sites by search

2010 2009

awareness interest consideration test-drive purchase

6 Months 3 Months 2 Months 1 Month 1 Week

30% 37% 42% 48% 38%

25% 37% 36% 40% 34%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data, by time periods, discrete months, January 2010-December 2010.
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search helps shoppers discover and compare

search engines were helpful for upper funnel activities

How Search Engines Were Helpful

60%

51%
50%

42%
40%

35%

30%

20%

19%

10%

0%

Helped me obtain general inf ormation

Helped me compare f eatures across companies

Helped me understand specif ic f eatures

Helped me decide which company to purchase f rom

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. RT5 - How did each of the following source(s) help you while you researched or shopped for cars/ trucks? Please select all of the responses that apply for each source. Base: New purchasers that selected search engines in RT1/RT2 that received a rating of 2-5 in RT3 (n=364)

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purchasers search repeatedly

84% searched more than once
Number of Automotive Search Queries (Purchasers; Jan-Dec 2010)

40%

19% 14% 11% 16% Search Converters 1 2 3-4 5-9 10+

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Converters Total Query Volume: 19.3M; Clickstream data
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shoppers use both branded and non-branded terms

Share of Converters by Query Term Type Used (Purchasers; Jan-Dec 2010)

50% 45% 40% 35%
30%

25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

45%

45%

10%

Branded

Non-Branded

Both

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Clickstream data

30

as search usage increases, keyword type varies

Branded Versus Non-Branded Search, by Number of Queries (Purchasers; Jan-Dec 2010)
10+ 16% 13% 71%

17,100

5-9

48%

4%

48%

1,340 Query Volume

( 000s)

3-4

57%

5%

38%

487

75%

9%

16%

220

83%

17%

156

Branded Only

Non-Branded Only

Both

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. Base: Converters from Jan-Dec 2010; total query volume among converters: 19.3M; Clickstream data

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mobile impact

32

tablets ranked highest in usefulness

Usefulness of Research Tools Used
Test drive at a dealership

91% 76%
76%

Family, friends, and/or colleagues Salesperson at a dealership Flyers or brochures received in the mail Magazines
Newspaper/Magazine websites

Offline

75% 70% 67% 67%

52%

Radio Newspapers TV Professional automotive review websites Third- party automotive websites 48%

88% 83% 81% 77% 75% 74% 65% 94% 75% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Online

Car/ truck manufacturer websites Consumer generated online reviews Social networking websites Search engines Dealership websites

Mobile

Tablet Mobile phone

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. RT3 - Please indicate how useful each of the following sources were while you researched or shopped for cars/trucks? Please select the one response that best applies to each type of source. Base: New purchasers that selected source used in RT1/RT2 (n=942)
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mobile shoppers are more likely to use mobile throughout or in the beginning, than at the end
When During the Shopping Process Did You Use Research Tools

mobile and tablet used throughought research

8%

9% Dont know/Cant recall

30%

34%

Use this source throughout my research Used this source at the very end of my research Used this source in the middle of my research Used this source at the very beginning of my research

27%

8%

34% 19%

22%

20%

Mobile phone

Tablet

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. RT4 - For which parts of your research process did you use each of these in researching or shopping for cars/trucks? Please select all responses that apply for each source. If you used a source throughout your research, please only select that option. Base: New purchasers that selected source used in RT1/RT2 (n=942)
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mobile phones used to compare models

Types of Research Conducted on Mobile Phone (New Purchasers That Selected Mobile or Tablet in RT1, n=98)
Compare f eatures Compare prices Read general car/truck inf ormation Navigate to a dealership
34% 31% 29%
28% 47%

55%

44%

Call a dealership
Read reviews Watch an online video Locate a dealership Search a dealerships inventory
24% 23% 19% 17% 13% 9% 0% 10% 20% 30%

Build/Conf igure a new car/truck

Make an appointment f or a test drive Look f or promotions or coupons Contact a dealership other than by calling

40%

50%

60%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. M2 - Which of the following did you do on your mobile device while researching or shopping for cars/ trucks? Please select all that apply. Base: Selected mobile phone or tablet (e.g., iPad) in RT1, new purchasers only (n=98)
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video impact

36

online video ranked most useful ad format

Usefulness of Advertisements Seen or Heard (New Purchasers That Selected Ads in MI1, Top 2 Box, n=942)
Online video ad Sponsored/paid search engine listing Newspaper ad Email ad Radio ad TV ad
41% 40% 40% 37% 36%
28%

52% 49% 45%

Online website ad
Magazine ad Billboard or outdoor ad
0% 10% 20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. MI2 - How useful were each of the following types of advertisements in helping you decide whether to purchase a car/truck? Please select the one response that best applies to each type of advertisement. Base: New purchasers that selected ads in MI1 (n=942)
37

30% were encouraged to start researching after viewing online video ads

video ads drove initial interest

Result of Seeing Online Video Advertisements

35%

30%
30%

25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

23% 17% 12% 11% 9%

Prompted me to start researching

Encouraged me to consider the brand that was advertised

Prompted me to visit the advertisers store

Enticed me to purchase an automotive part

Prompted me to visit the website of the advertiser

Prompted me to call the advertiser

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. MI3 - What role did each of the following play while you were researching or shopping for a car/ truck? Please select all of the responses that apply for each type of advertisement. Base: New purchasers that selected Video Ads in MI1, (n=163)
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video influences brand choice

40% of video viewers indicated that online videos were helpful in deciding which brand to purchase
How Automotive Videos Were Helpful
45%

40%
40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

30% 24% 21%

Helped me decide which company to purchase f rom

Helped me obtain general inf ormation

Helped me understand specif ic f eatures

Helped me compare f eatures across companies

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. RT5 - How did each of the following source(s) help you while you researched or shopped for cars/ trucks? Please select all of the responses that apply for each source. Base: New purchasers that selected video sharing used in RT1/RT2 that received a rating of 2-5 in RT3 (n=90)
39

youtube leads all auto video research sites

2 of 3 purchasers who viewed automotive online videos did so on YouTube

Websites Visited to Watch Online Automotive Videos

YouTube Car/truck manuf acturer websites Prof essional automotive review websites Third-party automotive websites
32% 27% 25% 22% 19% 16% 16% 13% 12% 12%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 40%

65%

40%

Facebook
Bing Video Consumer generated online reviews Newspaper/Magazine websites Dealership websites Yahoo! Video Vimeo MySpace Google Video

Auto Shopper Behavior Study, Google/Compete, 2011. VI1 - Which of the following websites did you use to watch videos while researching or shopping for cars/trucks? Please select all that apply. Base: Selected video sharing websites in RT2, new purchasers only (n=95)
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opportunities

41

opportunities & considerations

to align to todays automotive shopping behavior:

1 2 3 4 5 6

follow shoppers through an increasingly complex path to purchase versus relying on traditional online destinations alone reconsider media use for discrete parts of the funnel and explore strategies for each platform by research stage examine dealers digital presence and coordination with brand-level strategy based on rise in spontaneous shopping and dealer site use navigation becomes more important as research diversity increases. is search getting the attention it deserves? develop mobile specific strategies to prepare for continued growth and specialization produce and distribute video to compete for early interest

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