THENIELSENAUTOMARKETINGREPORT2018AtNielsen,datadriveseverythingwedo—evenart.That’swhyweusedrealdatatocreatethisimage.Copyright©2018TheNielsenCompany(US),LLC.AllRightsReserved.2Copyright©2018TheNielsenCompany(US),LLC.AllRightsReserved.LETTERFROMTHEAUTHORSWelcometoTheNielsenAutoMarketingReport2018!Asyouprobablyknow,buyingacarisalongandcomplexprocess.Forstarters,it’sanexpensivepurchase,sowetendtobecautiousanddeliberateaboutit.It’salsoadecisionwelivewithforsometime,soweoweittoourselvestoreviewtherelevantoptions.Justconsiderthatthereare412distinctcarmodelsintheU.S.alonethisyear.1Pickingtherightcarisnotnecessarilyarationalprocesseither.Askanyonetoexplainwhatthey’relookingforinanewcarandthewordsdon’tcomeeasy:partofitisutilitarian,partofitishedonic,andthere’snoreadymadeformulatomakeitanyeasier.Whilewe’rehardatworktryingtofigureoutwhichcartobuy,you—theautomarketer—areworkingequallyhardonsophisticatedincentivepackagesandadvertisingcampaignstoswayourdecisions.Thestakesarehigh:theindustryspends$35billionayearinmarketinginitiativesintheU.S.alone.2EvenascarsalesintheU.S.havesloweddownabitinthepastcoupleofyears,3automotiveremainsoneofthetop-spendingadvertisingcategoriesonthenationalstage,andbyfarthetopspenderonlocalmedia.Asconsumers,webuyanewcareverysixtosevenyearsonaverage,andinthattimespanwe’reexposedtothousandsofadsacrossallmediachannels.We’renotactivelyshoppingthewholetime,ofcourse,butthoseadimpressionsaresurelyleavingamarkandshapingourpreferences.4AtNielsen,we’vebeenstudyingshoppingbehaviorforalongtime,acrossalltypesofconsumerproducts.It’sbecomeincreasinglycleartousthatcarshoppingfollowsauniquesetofdynamics.Toinvestigate,we’relaunchingthefirstofanannualseriesofautomarketingreportstotakeadeepdiveintotheconsumerpathtopurchase,media’simpactonbrandawarenessandpurchaseintentandbuyingbehavioracrossagegroups.Enjoythereport!Sincerely,NateHutchinsandBrettHouseBRETTHOUSEVP-Marketing&Strategy,NielsenWatch1“CarShoppingGuides.”J.D.Power.AccessedSeptember2018.2Almadr...
