In its 2014 Automotive Buyer Influence Study, AutoTrader.com researchers determined that social media has little impact on auto sales, and traditional media as a shopper resource is heading continually downhill. In fact, only 7 percent of millennials turn to print newspapers to look for vehicles. And, after many have said that millennials aren't interested in buying vehicles, this study says that mobile-addicted millennials are the shoppers spurring the most change in the vehicle purchase process.

While it's not a big surprise that print has dipped, I was flabbergasted at how very low  the social-shop number was. I feel sure they're still heading there for reviews, suggestions on vehicles and dealers, and to show off their new cars, but they're not going there to look for their next car, it would seem. 

I'm just wondering how many of you are using Facebook Marketplace, or other social-network tools and features to actually list vehicles, and how that's working for you. I'm guessing it's more about engagement and creating relationships than in actually having someone peruse a specific car or truck. Am I right? 

Here’s the announcement below:

2014 Automotive Buyer Influence Study Demonstrates How Millennials Are Accelerating Change In Car Shopping

ATLANTA  /PRNewswire/ – Today, AutoTrader.com released the findings of the 2014 Automotive Buyer Influence Study, which provides insight into how consumers shop for vehicles online, offline and across multiple devices. Now in its third year, the study demonstrates how the consumer shopping process is rapidly evolving as the next generation of car buyers—Millennials—age into the largest car buying cohort. Overall, the 2014 study findings indicate that Millennials are blazing the way for near ubiquitous use of the Internet in car shopping and are showing significant increases in their use of mobile devices for car shopping, particularly smartphones.

 

reprinted it from http://aimgroup.com/2014/08/18/autotrader-comsocial-car-shopping-rare/