(September 30, 2011) WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Social networking site Facebook refers nearly as much new-vehicle buyer traffic to automaker websites as do major independent automotive content providers such as Autotrader.com, Cars.com and Edmunds.com, according to the 2011 Website Performance Tools Report, a collaborative effort between J.D. Power and Associates and Compete Inc.

Now in its third year, the report finds that 6 percent of new-vehicle buyers who visit an automaker's site visited Facebook immediately prior to visiting the automaker (OEM) site. This is commensurate with traffic levels driven by third-party automotive content provider websites such as Edmunds.com (8%) and AOL Autos (4%).

The report also finds that, among those who visit third-party and/or OEM sites, Facebook refers three times as many new-vehicle buyers to OEM or third-party automotive sites as general Internet population traffic (6% vs. 2%, respectively).

“Facebook visits are a regular part of the Web-savvy consumer’s life, and we see the proof of this through visitation patterns of new-vehicle buyers,” said Arianne Walker, director of marketing and media research at J.D. Power and Associates. “The volume of new-vehicle buyer traffic that Facebook drives to OEM and third-party automotive sites is considerably greater than that of any other non-automotive, non-search site.

"Manufacturers and third-party sites need to take advantage of Facebook’s popularity by continuing to invest in their presence on the site and determine how best to leverage its influence, even if the advertising model is atypical. In addition, automaker investments in Facebook should be consistent with their messages elsewhere.”

The study finds that, among new-vehicle buyers who visit an OEM site or a third-party site, nearly one-third visit Google’s search engine, www.google.com, prior to going to an OEM or third-party automotive site. The referral volume from Google’s search engine is notably higher than referral volumes generated by any other search engine. All other search engines included in the study refer less than 10 percent of new-vehicle buyer traffic to OEM and third-party sites.

“New-vehicle buyers are continuing to rely on the Internet early in the shopping process, as well as throughout the process,” said Walker. “Therefore, it’s critical for automotive brands and marketers to use the Web strategically to reach consumers throughout the shopping process — not just to help them make their final vehicle purchase decisions.”

The study also finds the following website usage patterns among new-vehicle buyers:

    • New-vehicle buyers visit 3.4 automotive websites, on average, during the six months prior to their purchase.
    • On average, new-vehicle buyers use 3.8 shopping tools on third-party sites and 3.2 shopping tools on OEM sites during the six months prior to purchase.
    • Buyers of premium crossover vehicle models (such as the Acura MDX, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz M-Class) visit an average of 1.2 automotive sites during the six months prior to purchase, which is particularly low, compared with buyers in other vehicle segments. These buyers use an average of 3.3 shopping tools on OEM sites, and 3.7 shopping tools on third-party automotive sites.
    • Among new-vehicle buyers, the automotive sites that are most frequently visited last, or just prior to purchase, include Edmunds.com (7%), KBB.com (7%), Fordvehicles.com (3%) and Toyota.com (3%).