With Canada’s major newspaper groups blaming waning ad sales in key categories like automotive for falling revenues, Newspapers Canada has released a new report suggesting that newspapers – both in print and on the web – continue to play a significant role in new vehicle purchases.
The report, “Newspaper media drive vehicle sales,” is based on online interviews with 2,461 English and French Canadians 18+, including 487 people who purchased a new vehicle in the past two years. Research was conducted by Totum Research, and is considered accurate within plus/minus 4.4% 19 times out of 20.
“There are some key information points [consumers] are looking for and newspapers just pop to the top,” said Suzanne Raitt, senior vice-president, chief marketing officer for Newspapers Canada in Toronto.
According to the report, newspapers’ print and web properties are the “most impactful” media at each stage of the average two-and-a-half month buying process for new vehicles (a process that includes research, visits to manufacturer/dealer sites, booking a test drive, etc.), with print typically ranking either first or second out of 11 tracked media, and newspaper websites scoring third or fourth.
The study said newspaper advertising can be effective at all stages of the buying process, not only for branding, but also price, location and website information.
Nearly half (43%) of the 487 people who bought a new car in the past two years said they consulted a print or web edition of a newspaper during the purchase process, ahead of non-automotive websites (28%), TV (24%), auto sales media (24%) and magazines (23%).
More than one-third (36%) of respondents said they used a print or web edition of a newspaper in the research phase, ahead of other non-automotive web sites (31%) and magazines (20%).
When it came to media that triggered visits to vehicle manufacturer websites, 32% of respondents cited print and web newspapers, putting them ahead of magazines (24%), TV (22%) and radio (16%).
The study found newspapers rank first in triggering a visit to a dealership, while newspaper websites ranked third.
Respondents also ranked print newspapers as the best medium for providing general information, comparing prices and deciding where to buy or lease a vehicle. Newspaper websites were the top-rated medium for sourcing vehicle-specific information.
In total, 75% of respondents said they read vehicle ads in print newspapers during the purchase process, compared with only 14% of social media users.
Asked how valuable such research can be in changing advertiser perception of newspapers, Raitt responded: “There are advertisers that are believers, and advertisers that aren’t. Some are going to stay the course, whatever their headspace is, no matter what, and there’s no moving them.
“It’s now just taking those people that maybe have thought one thing or another and are open to hearing [this] information. It’s designed to say ‘Here’s some data, done by a third party, that seems to show that there’s some power here.’”
