According to a Google survey about 50% of car purchasers from urban cities explore online before walking into a showroom. From a study by AC Nielsen it is revealed that on an average a car purchaser spends 9 to 12 weeks researching and exploring the internet before zeroing on a few cars of his choice.
The study was carried out across the top eight cities among 2,791 respondents between January and February.
Interestingly, more than half of the people who research online modify their preferred brand, after knowing about the new information on the Web.
According to studies and surveys, queries among SUVs grew the fastest on a year-on-year basis, pursued by premium cars, sedans, luxury cars and hatchbacks. A big percentage of potential buyers relied the most on official company websites and considered them as the most trustworthy source of information.
Out of the total respondents who went online, 42% of them say that they used search engine as the first source of information, rather than taking their friends or relatives‘s opinion. The study says that they used Web to research, explore and compare prices, watch online videos and search images, perform surveys, compete analysis and read user and expert reviews.
Google India Vice President and Managing Director Rajan Anandan said: “The off-line study substantiates the growing number of auto-related searches we have seen on Google.”
Automobiles are the fastest growing search queries on Google. Most of the companies have not utilized the full potential of the online media yet. Google hopes that studies and surveys will help them to understand and engage the customers online in more dynamic manner.
Source: Financial Express
