Archive for the ‘Automotive’ Category

Automotive Market Research: Toyota According to Internet Search

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Toyota is one of those companies that always seems to be producing good news: from sleek new models to growing market share to increased fuel efficiency to the stories you keep hearing from satisfied vehicle owners. Given this generally positive aura surrounding the brand, how does Toyota fare in the public eye as measured by the way people search for the Japanese auto-maker online? What topics, models, problems, or buying opportunities are people most commonly entering into search engines in conjunction with Toyota?

Recent research by Epiar Inc. took a look into these questions, exploring the top several thousand phrases entered into search engines which include the word “Toyota.” Curious to see which ideas and associations jumped to the top of the list, the following topics were uncovered as the most popular:

Please click here for an expanded report on the top Toyota search phrases.

Taking a Closer Look

Of interest to the Toyota executives and bean-counters, the sporty Supra was among the most popularly searched individual models, followed closely by the Tacoma, Camry, Corolla, Prius, Celica, and Tundra. The truck department at Toyota should be proud of their rise in brand power as compared to the ever-popular Toyota sport utility vehicles, sedans, and compact cars.

One interesting feature of the Toyota search phrases surrounded the manner in which people searched for Toyotas by model year. Searches for 2007, 2006, and 2005 vehicles were predictably the highest, followed by a surprisingly even number of searches for models dating from 2004 through the 1980s and beyond. Clearly, people are still concerned about buying or repairing their older Toyotas!

In relation to older models, searches for repairs, parts, service, and other phrases implying car-trouble also appeared within popular search. It would be interesting to compare the top several thousand repair-related search phrases of Toyota with those of Ford, Honda, GM, and others. Are Toyota’s repair phrases proportionally higher or lower than those of their competitors? Which parts & problems show up the most prominently in each manufacturer’s search phrases? How is Toyota’s reputation of mechanical reliability reflected in the volume of search requests for car service and repair manuals versus the other major auto brands? All interesting questions to save for another day…

Speaking of reliability – with this cold Edmonton winter weekend and somewhere to be tonight, I sure am glad my trusty Corolla is working just fine!

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.

Posted in Automotive, Brand Equity, Business Market Research, Market Research Blog, Market Segmentation | No Comments »

Auto Parts: Search Tracks Auto Valve Demand

Monday, August 28th, 2006

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.

Posted in Automotive, Brand Equity, Business Market Research, Market Research Blog | No Comments »