© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Put Her in the Driver’s Seat: Social tools inform and empower

women’s car-buying process

Jane Collins and Christine DeMaio

Director of Market Research; SVP Sales Marketing

BlogHer

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 3

BlogHer Study: Methodology

Identical survey fielded to two populations

in August 2011

• The BlogHer Network

• U.S. Online General Population in 7 markets*

• Total Study Sample Size

• 1090 total women 18-76

• 377 men 18-76

• Total sample = 1,467

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: BlogHer Network = 26 million unique visitors per month U.S.

sample : General Population markets = Atlanta, Boston, NY, Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Portland

Social Media

Definition:

Blogs

Facebook & Twitter

Message Boards/

Forums

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 4

Social Media and Automotive Purchasing

Key Findings:

• Blog advice raises excitement and confidence, while reducing the

stress many women associate with the car purchasing process.

Social network advice raises excitement, confidence…and stress

• Blog and other online auto review sites are more influential than all

other media channels, including TV, magazines and Facebook

• Men and women are both adopting social media as a tool to gain

information prior to car purchase; but women are more passionate

and articulate about their usage

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 5

Women are more excited and nervous when car shopping

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Total US Population Sample; N = 892

Describe the emotions you

experience when thinking

about buying a new car

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 6

Blogs, social media increase confidence for women And Blogs also reduce nerves and stress

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Total US Population Sample; N = 892;

Filtered by either used blog or used social networks advice to help with a car purchase

Emotional Response

to Purchasing

a New Car

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 7

Top 10 research sources for women when purchasing a car

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Combined sample; Total Women 18+ “What is your

preferred method for researching a car prior to purchase?” Select all that apply; N = 1,023

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 8

Entity Rank Total Sample

Car Dealership #1 66.7%

Word of Mouth #2 61.5%

Car Review Site #3 58.4%

Blog Review Site #4 46.9%

Auto Magazines #5 42.4%

Twitter #6 43.7%

Mobile Phone App #7 38.9%

TV Advertising #8 36.1%

Facebook #9 34.7%

Manufacturer Site #10 33.6%

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Combined sample; Total Women 18+ “Please rank the

following resources in terms of influence on your car purchasing decision”; N = 1,023

Top 10 purchase influences for women: Car Manufacturer sites rank #4 as information source, but dead last as influencer

Rank by Influence

(Top Box “Very Influential”)

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 9

Cost, mileage are most important

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Combined sample; Total Women 18+ “What are the

most important components when researching a car for purchase?”; Women N = 1,049, Men N = 370

Women also favor safety

Men like bells and whistles (Style, Power)

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 10

Going green gets higher interest from young women:

Hybrid Electric Alternative Fuel Not interested

78%

27% 28%

15%

85%

39% 34%

9%

Women 18+ Women 18-27

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: Combined sample; “What sort of ‘green’ car would you

consider for your next automotive purchase”; N = 1,039

Younger women

(18-27)

have an elevated

interest in all

types of “green”

cars

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 11

1. Social Media helps women get excited to buy

a new car; blogs help calm her nerves

2. Women still come to you: Your site, your

dealership. Shape their experiences there

3. Message what matters: Inventory search,

mileage, safety and functionality

4. Bring them real user experiences: On your site

and on theirs.

a. Be an aggregation point for women’s

voices

b. Participate and become a part of a

woman’s social graph

Key takeaways for automotive marketers

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 12

Women Trust Social Media to Help them Make an Automotive Purchase Decision

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: “If you have ever used a Blog or Social Network to help with an

automotive purchase, tell us about it in a few sentences”. N = 1076

In their own words...

“When we were searching for

cars over the past two weeks, I

asked a million questions on

my (social network) page and

got around 40 responses each

time. All of the referrals from

friends and family helped me

make my decision!”

583 Total Verbatim Responses

“I use social media as a crowd-sourcing

outlet for major decisions such as the

purchase of a car. There are a large

variety of people on social media from all

parts of the world, walks of life, socio-

economic strata, and the more diversity

of opinion I can collect, the better I am

able to make a purchasing decision.”

“Connected with Ford

Flex lovers on Twitter.

Ford twitter

responded to my

questions”

“I found a blog where the

writer drove a Volvo station

wagon and loved it. Her life

is very much like mine so it

helped me think that the car

would be good for me”

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 13

Men are less chatty about the Social Media experience, but they find the information useful and relevant

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: “If you have ever used a Blog or Social Network to help with an

automotive purchase, tell us about it in a few sentences”. N = 1076

In their own words...

“Blogs have been one source of

information for researching cars.

The stories and comments can give

anecdotal info on any problems--or

for that matter, great points--about

individual vehicles and dealers. I

weigh that information with

everything else I learn from other

sources”

289 Total Verbatim Responses

“My favorite car blog, autoblog.com, once

ran an article that compared top-selling

compact cars..…It wasn't your typical,

straight-forward car analysis, as it took into

consideration many everyday traits that

any good car should possess, as well as

any undeniable X-factor credentials that

set the car apart from the pack.”

“I used opinions of

people I knew via

Facebook to make

my car purchase

decision”

“I did a lot of research first

and then used a blog and

friends from Facebook on

said vehicle to influence my

purchase. I wanted to know

the ins and outs, any pros

and cons etc.”

© 2011 J.D. Power and Associates,

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 14

Social media empowers and informs consumers during the car purchase process

Source: Women and Automotive Decisions 2011: “If you have ever used a Blog or Social Network to

help with an automotive purchase, tell us about it in a few sentences”. N = 1533

Word cloud from those who use blogs or social networks to help with an auto purchase

822 Total Verbatim Responses