• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, September 8, 2006

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Online Media Study, targeting upscale new-vehicle buyers at travel, special interest and finance Web sites is considerably more effective for brand marketing than placing advertising on most automotive shopping sites.

Based on a random national sample of 10,724 verified new-vehicle buyers with Internet access who purchased a vehicle in September or October 2005, the study investigates the Internet usage and behavior of new-vehicle buyers.

Steve Witten, executive director of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates, said "By focusing on new-vehicle buyer behavior on the Internet before they begin actively shopping for their next new vehicle, automotive marketers can identify the Web sites with the highest probability of reaching prospective buyers more effectively ...once consumers visit an automotive shopping site, they've already narrowed their vehicle consideration set."

While most Internet users are reached by the most popular sites such as Google and Yahoo!, the study finds these upscale new-vehicle buyers can be found (following their interests and lifestyles) at sites such as WebMD and Home Depot five times more often than general Internet users.

Affluent buyers:

• Use financial sites such as Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money six times more often than general Internet users
• Are also four to five times more likely to use travel sites such as Expedia.com or Travelocity than general Internet users.

"While (upscale) new-vehicle buyers are a niche of only 6 percent of adults in any one year, they are a highly desirable group of consumers for advertisers, and they behave very differently online than general Internet audiences," said Witten.

The study finds that visitation to particular Web sites can vary greatly by the type of vehicle consumers are likely to purchase:

• Large pickup buyers have above-average visitation rates to NASCAR.com and many home improvement sites
• Midsize pickup buyers are much more likely than others to visit sports-related sites
• Female prospects for minivans and large SUVs frequent Disney Online and game sites
• Those interested in sports cars not only visit auto enthusiast sites, but also are frequent visitors to several travel-related Web sites
• Luxury buyers are more than twice as likely as non-luxury buyers to visit Apple's iTunes music store, due in part to high ownership levels of MP3 players in this segment

To review the original release, please visit here.