Driving decisions: how car buyers use reviews to make their choice

By the time new car buyers visit a car brand site, most of them have made up their mind about which car to buy. It’s just one of the findings from Sophus3’s work with premium publishers Haymarket Media Group, Autovia, and Bauer Media Group, who in the past 12 months have commissioned analysis of millions of consumer interactions to understand how car review content influences purchase decisions.

The studies confirmed the immense reach that these automotive media sites achieve. Within the UK, monthly traffic to publisher sites exceeds the traffic to all car brands combined. Visitors to these sites also spend longer and look at more content than on the OEM sites.

But the study also revealed deeper insights into the car buyer’s journey and the different roles the two types of sites play within that.

We found:

• • Publisher sites drive early engagement and deeper interaction before buyers reach car brand websites.
  • Exposure to automotive media content increases the number of brands a buyer considers
  • 70% of in-journey visitors are influenced by publisher sites and will return even after visiting brand websites to refine or validate their decisions.
  • Car brand websites are great at assisting the final transaction but miss earlier engagement opportunities.

The study also found significant differentiation in the behaviour of those shopping for electric vehicles and those looking at ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. The data showed:

• • EV shoppers are more highly engaged on media sites
  • Most significantly, EV/ICE choice happens early in the consideration phase
  • The decision on power-train will most likely happen before research on brand sites commences
  • Car brands struggle to convert EV interest: 25% of visits engage with EV content but only 15% result in purchase.

The findings led us to make the following strategy recommendations for car brands looking to improve engagement and increase conversions.

They should:

• • Develop branded content in partnership on media sites to capture early interest.
  • Engage consumers before the ‘ready to transact’ stage.
  • Retarget visitors who engage with their brand on publisher sites.
  • Enhance their EV ‘offer’ earlier in the buyer journey: providing clear information and comparisons on affordability and infrastructure.

To learn more about the findings of our research or to discuss how Sophus3 can help car brands achieve digital excellence, please contact our head of insight, patrick.fuller@sophus3.com.