CarsGuide Research - The 'Dive'

CarsGuide Autotrader Project ‘Dive’: Research Findings

Contents | Agenda

1.

Introduction & opportunity

2.

The research sample

3.

Initial consideration

4.

Consumer search process

5.

Active consideration

6.

Influences on decision-making

7.

Dealership role

8.

Luxury snapshot

9.

Executive Summary

1.

Introduction & opportunity

Digital influence continues to increase Almost 2/3rd of purchase journeys now begin online First step after decision to purchase a vehicle has been made

+7% vs 2019

93% 3.1

Use any online resources

62%

Avg. # of online resources used Went online

Q. More specifically, which of the following resources did you use as part of your search for a vehicle to purchase?

Base: Past Purchasers (n=364)

-8% vs 2019

18%

19%

Went to dealership

Spoke with friends/family

Q. What was the very first step you took when you begin searching for a vehicle? (future purchasers n=559)

Impact of COVID-19 Question: COVID-19 has had an influence on the way some people have shopped for a car.

Do you agree or disagree with the following?

‘I did/do more research online before visiting dealers’ * Only Buyers since Feb. ‘20 asked

73%

Intenders

Top 2 box agree

54%

Buyers

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Consumer doing more online research.

This matches with record visitation of CarsGuide site over C-19 period B16 / C116: Covid 19 has had an influence on the way some people have shopped for a car. Do you agree or disagree with the following?

Base: Buyers since Feb ‘20 n = 600, Intenders n = 600

80%

2.

The research sample: Who did we survey?

Research sample: New car focus BUYERS: n = 600 Bought in Last 12 months

N = 1,200 Australia wide

New car buyers and intenders Carefully screened to ensure genuine respondents

Bought new car only

INTENDERS: n = 600 Intend in Next 12 months Intend buying new car

•

Respondents via Dynata

•

Leading market research panel

•

Fieldwork: 28 Aug to 10 Sept. 2020

A robust sample & good quality data

Research sample: Demographics Area

Gender

Age 0%

NT 1% WA 10%

Compare Aust. Pop’n: • QLD • NSW + ACT • VIC • TAS • SA • NT • WA

20% 34% 26% 2% 7% 1% 10%

SA 6%

Qld 21% NSW (incl. ACT) 33% VIC 28% Tas 2%

20-34

20%

40%

60%

22%

39% 61%

54-69

Compare Aust. Pop’n: Male 50% Female 50%

48%

25-54

29%

Compare Aust. Pop’n: 18-34 33% 35-54 41%

55-69 26%

Australian nationally represented by area – both metro and country

3.

Initial consideration: Know which brand (before research?)

Know which brand? Before research Question: Before you started car research, did you know the specific car brand you were / are going to buy?

Please choose the statement that best describes you…

Our interpretation

“No, definitely did not know”

I was open to a wide variety of brands

Up for grabs

“No, did not know”

There were a few brands I was going to consider

Available

“Not sure”

I had a brand in mind, but I was going to consider others

Brand leanings

“Yes, knew”

I had a specific brand, that I was fairly certain I was going to buy

Brand loyalty

A question making it easy for consumers to self-classify

Know which brand? Total sample No, definitely not 12% 35% No, Did not know

Total sample Nett 65% No or Not sure

23%

Yes, knew

Which brand is not fixed initially – for 2/3rd of auto consumers* 30% Not sure

B5 / C5: Before you started looking or doing car research, did you know the specific car brand you were going to buy? Please choose the statement that best describes you.

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600 * Similar finding to 2019 Wave survey; see Appendix.

Know vs. Don’t know what brand Knew/Know which brand (Compared to Don’t know + Not sure) Tend to be people who:

However, they are no different in:

Are spending more, $60K+; new only

Time spent on research

Have fewer brands on initial list

The total number of brands considered

Contacting less dealers

The influence of review comparison sites Figs. higher for Knew brand…confirming their choice?

The brand ‘loyal’ are looking & researching online just as much – and considering as many brands.

4.

Consumer research process

Time in the research process Duration of search

Buyers

Longer: > 6 months – 1 year +

20%

Medium: 4 – 6 months Shorter: 1 – 3 months

Extended search

Total time per week

Total Sample

28%

Avg. 2.7 Hours 52%

Shorter search

Half are looking for extended periods… ‘antennae up’ B4: When did you first start thinking about / looking for this new car?

Base: Buyers n = 600. (Buyer data only, not asked of Intenders)

B7 / C7: When you were / are researching: On average, how many hours of research did / do you do per week? Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

Websites for car research Visited any websites to research cars?

Total Sample

Yes 92%

Which of these?

Total Sample

Nett: 79% At least 1 of these sites

B11a / C11a: Did you visit / have you visited any websites to look at / research cars?

D4: During your research, which of the following car listing / review websites did you use or look at?

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

Nearly everyone uses the internet for car research (over 90%); and 8 in 10 use a 3rd party comparison site.

Importance of research activities Question: How important were / are each of the following research activities?

Top 2 box = Extremely + Very important

Importance

Buyers

Intenders

Internet research / car websites

74%

83%

Visiting dealership/s (in person)

78%

78%

Reviews / car comparisons (online or print)

68%

76%

Contacting dealership/s (e.g. phone / email)

54%

55%

Talking to friends & family about cars

50%

53%

High importance for Internet research and Reviews B6 / C6: How important were / are each of the following research activities?

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

5.

Active consideration: How many brands?

The wave hypothesis validated In the traditional funnel metaphor, consumers start with a set of potential brands and methodically reduce that number to make a purchase Initial consideration

‘Active’ research consideration

Avg. 2.8

Avg. 6.4

A key hypothesis of the 2019 research was that the consumer purchasing journey is more like a wave than a funnel, because consumers increase the number of brands they consider during research.

Wave hypothesis confirmed by this 2020 research study; hence consumers are more available to being influenced during active research

How many brands considered?

Average number of brands considered 7 6 5 4

Number of brands considered more than doubles* in the active research phase

3 2 1 0

2.4

5.6

3.1

Buyers

7.2

Intenders Initial

2.8

6.4

Total Buy + Intend

Active research

B17 / C17: When you were researching, which of these brands did you look at or consider / have you looked at or considered?

B19 / C19: Before research, which of these brands – if any – were you initially considering?

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

* Similar finding to 2019 Wave survey

6.

Influences on decision-making

Influences on consideration: Overall Question: Which of these influenced you to look at / consider these ‘other’ brands?

Total: Buyers + Intenders

Influence

High

Medium

Low

Internet research generally Car review / comparison website recommended Previously owned or driven cars Car manufacturer / dealer website Talking to friends or family Dealership visit / or other contact (e.g. phone, email) Saw an advert online / ad from a search engine Advert in traditional media (e.g. TV, radio, print) Social media Placeholder for question reference and base number

Top 2 box: influence

57% 54% 52% 50% 48% 47% 37% 36% 31%

Influences on consideration: Intenders Top 2 box: Strongly influenced + influenced Internet research generally

62%

Car review/ comparison website

61%

Previously owned / driven cars

55% 55% stat. sig. lower 55% than 62%

Manufacturer/dealership website Talking to friends & family

53%

Dealership visit or other contact

48% Relatively lower

Advert online/ ad from search

41%

Advert in traditional media Social media

40% 34%

Intenders: Influenced most strongly by… Internet research, and review / comparison sites C22: Which of these influenced you to look at / consider these ‘other’ brands?

Base: Intenders n = 600

Influences on finalising: Intenders FINALISING i.e. which car / deal Feature of the car

72%

Brand image of the vehicle

67%

Car review comparison website

66% 66% stat. sig.

Manufacturer/ dealer website

64%

Availability of the vehicle

63%

Special deal from dealership

61%

Way the salesperson treated me

54% Relatively lower

Talking to friends or family Social Media

54% 36%

Intenders: Influenced most strongly by… Features and Brand image.

Car review / comparison and Manufacturer / dealer website still influential C26: What factors have influenced you to narrow down the brands on your shortlist?

lower than 72%

Base: Intenders n = 600

7.

The dealership role

Attitudes: Dealerships 2019 Buyers + Intenders

2020 Buyers + Intenders

18%

33%

35%

9% 4%

Feel about visiting car dealerships 27% 9-10 Very Positive

31% 7-8 Positive

30% 4-6 Negative

2-3 Negative

8% 4% 0-1 Very Negative

Skew towards positive - contrary to stereotype re. attitude to dealers; more positive in 2020 E2: How do you feel generally about visiting car dealerships when looking to buy a car?

Base 2020: All respondents n = 1,200 Base 2019: All new respondents n = 743

Number of dealers visited Buyers: Number of Dealers Visited 40%

35%

32%

Avg. 2.2

30%

19%

20% 10% 0%

1 Dealer

2 Dealers

3 Dealers

8%

6%

4 Dealers

5 or more

Between 2 and 3 dealers visited on average; lower for Knew / know brand

Intenders: Number of Dealers likely to Visit

36%

40%

32% Avg. 2.6

30% 20%

15%

11%

10% 0%

1 Dealer

2 Dealers

3 Dealers

4 Dealers

6% 5 or more

B8b / C8b: How many dealers did you / are you likely to visit in person?

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

The finalising stage: How many switch?

17% 28%

Changed car

Of the 17% who switch A different brand

12%

Same brand, different model/grade 5%

Considered, but didn’t change

55% Didn’t consider others

B27: During this finalising stage, which of the following happened? (Changed / Considered / Didn’t consider).

Base: Buyers n = 600

Approx. 1 in 5 change car they had decided on

8.

Luxury snapshot

Know which brand? Luxury vs. Standard Buyers

Intenders

Luxury

Standard

Luxury

Standard

9%

12%

9%

13%

No, did not know

13%↓

24%↑

11%↓

29%↑

Not sure

25%

26%

26%

36%

Yes, knew

53%↑

37%↓

54%↑

23%↓

100%

100%

100%

100%

n=130

n=470

n=116

n=484

No, definitely did not know

B5 / C5: Before you started looking or doing car research, did you know the specific car brand you were going to buy? Please choose the statement that best describes you.

Base: Buyers n = 600, Intenders n = 600

9.

Executive overview

Executive summary: Highlights

1. Intro & opportunity

2. The research sample

3. Initial consideration

• The auto consumer journey is changing, and this research builds on previous studies.

• New cars only, a robust sample of n = 1,200 with good quality data.

• About 1/3rd know the brand they’ll buy, the other 2/3rd are considering other brands.

The opportunity is to align with the increasing influence of digital.

Need perspective of both buyers and intenders.

Consumers are mostly available to influence.

Executive summary: Highlights cont’d

4. Consumer research process

5. Active consideration

• Almost all use internet research, and over 80% use 3rd party sites.

• Wave hypothesis validated; 2.8 initial brands, going up to 6.4 brands considered.

Extended consumer research period means more opportunity to influence online.

The number of brands more than doubles during the active research phase.

6. Influences on decision-making • Many influences to get brands on the list, but internet higher than even previous experience.

Review / comparison sites in the top 2 influences, especially for Intenders.

Executive summary: Highlights cont’d

7. Dealership role

8. Finalising stage

9. Luxury snapshot

• Majority (60%+) have a positive attitude to visiting dealers, seen as improving.

• Around 1 in 5 change the car they had decided on, with approx. 10% switching brand.

• A higher Knew brand figure of 50% suggests more attachment to initial brands.

However, low no. of visits – avg. 2.4 – means research and influence is mostly elsewhere.

Brand image is still one of the top influences in finalising (only features of car is higher).

But they still consider as many brands, and research is even more important.