Auto Parts: Search Tracks Auto Valve Demand

While search frequency research on macroscopic topics such as Canada or plastics can be surprising and impressive, search research provides an equally curious experience when examining the most narrowly focused of topics.

Personally, I rarely spend time thinking about my car’s engine valves. In fact, I typically don’t think about any of the mechanical parts my car unless I really need to; unless there’s something wrong.

After encountering several search phrases about engine valves during a recent Oil & Gas sector project, I sought to explore the following questions: “What kind of car trouble might people be inadvertently reporting to search engines by looking for specific auto repair information? Do any trends appear within these searches, perhaps relating to specific brands or models of cars? If so, what does that mean?”

In the spirit of microscopics, I decided to take closer look at searches relating to EGR and PCV valves (really little car parts that can cause big headaches), as well as valve searches according to the major automakers. The following brands appeared the most frequently in these internet searches:

Click here for a full version of this auto valve report.

Search’s Impact on Consumer Behaviour

As a consumer recently introduced to the existence of this public record of implied car trouble with specific car parts, how might this type of knowledge affect your future purchase patterns? Suppose you were looking for a used Ford Explorer or Ranger – wouldn’t you have some new questions for your mechanic? Or perhaps if you were considering a 1996-1999 vehicle – might there be certain models you’d avoid?

Imagine if you had search data for the remaining 1000 car parts!

In fairness, additional factors need to be considered before jumping to conclusions with this type of information (such as differences in sales volume, possible recreational search by valve enthusiasts, etc.), but the principle is still interesting. In fact, search trends have matched the real-life car experiences of friends and family in several cases.

You can bet I’ll be doing some serious search query research before my next major purchase!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.