Updated 09/27/2018 11:36:44 CET
MADRID, 27 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spaniards are the Europeans who take the longest to decide to buy a new car, up to 27 weeks, compared to 24 weeks on average in Europe, according to a study by Facebook and Gfk.
Respondents spend 15 weeks to learn about the brand and model, five weeks to test the characteristics and four weeks to acquire financing, and three weeks to close the purchase.
According to the study, called ‘The new Auto Path to Purchase’ and covering a sample of 4,000 interviews in Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, a month before the purchase, potential buyers consult Facebook an average of 45 times , seven times Instagram and five times the dealership website.
Technology is consolidated as the necessary tool to search for information in the European user, who in 97% of cases starts buying an ‘online’ car. In this way, the websites of manufacturers and their brands are the most popular resources. 82% of buyers visit the website of the brand that interests them first, being 78% in Spain.
In addition, in the purchase of a vehicle the opinion of the surroundings close to the buyer has “a lot of weight”: 31% affirm that they ask friends and family when choosing a car (40% in Spain).
“Car sales are a particularly lengthy process in which the user spends almost 60% of the time looking for information about the model and the brand.In such long shopping processes, you have to accompany the user from inspiration to the end, even after the purchase, with a growing presence of the mobile and social platforms in this process, the automotive industry has a unique opportunity to understand their customers and discover new channels that culminate in the point of sale ” , said the head of Auto for Facebook and Instagram for Spain and Portugal, Fernando García.