Race on Sunday sell on Monday works. A new study from Rochester, MI-based Foresight Research, "2010: Automotive Marketing Return On Investment," which culls some five years worth of data, shows among
other things that last year 10% of all new vehicle buyers surveyed attended one or more motorsports races in the 12 months prior to their purchase. Twenty five percent of all new vehicle buyers
surveyed said they watched at least one motorsports race on television in the same time period. Of those who watched motorsports on TV, the average number of races watched was 11. "New vehicle buyers
who are influenced by motorsports typically love cars and trucks and they are opinion leaders for other car buyers - they give an average of 25 or more vehicle recommendations per year to others,"
said Steve Bruyn, President of Foresight Research. "More importantly people follow their advice - and we have measured it. So, there is a downstream impact from the races in the form of on-going
word of mouth recommendations. That's why we say that the roar from a race car continues away from the track." The favored race organizations by far were NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar, with geography
playing a big role: markets like Charlotte, Orlando/Daytona, Dallas and Northern California all more likely to attend a race and/or watch on TV. The incidence of TV viewership by brand was led by
Dodge (36%), GMC (35%), Chevrolet (32%) and Ford (31%) followed by upscale and performance oriented brands. Buyers of large cars, sporty cars and pickup trucks are more likely to be influenced by
motor sports.
