A recent Yahoo Autos study showed that 85% of online shoppers consider consumer generated content, particularly ratings and reviews, to be a key element in their research process when shopping for a new vehicle. That is a huge number and illustrates how important the community is in helping consumers make buying decisions.
“Data from this study demonstrates a largely untapped opportunity for auto manufacturers to engage with their customer via social media tools during the shopping process, allowing for open dialogue about their products, said Jennifer Dulski, general manager, Yahoo! Autos.
What was interesting about the study is that consumers want more than the traditional consumer ratings and reviews. They are using the whole social nework auto enthusiast sites, online forums/message boards, question and answer sites, and blogs to find additional information such as pricing, features and specifications and product reliability/dependability information.
So if you are an auto manufactuer then you need to be engaging consumers in all these types of locations and not just waiting until they come to your site as the buying decision has been made by then.
[...] In the past we have asked whether Customer Reviews Increase Sales and the importance of User Generated Content Important in Buying Decision. [...]