BY Rachel Cagle
While the temperatures may be starting to cool down, things are just starting to heat up between Americans and their cars as the majority admit to having strong feelings of love toward their personal vehicles, according to a new Cars.com national survey.
The survey uncovered that nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) love their car a lot, and more than two-thirds (69%) have a significant amount of pride in their vehicle.
But just how deep does Americans' love for their cars run? The majority of respondents are more concerned with maintaining the health of their vehicle than their own oral health — nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) confess they service their vehicle more often than they go to the dentist. Americans' preventive health care comes second, too, as more than half of respondents (57%) say they service their vehicle more than they see a doctor.
"Our survey supports what we already know: for many people, our cars are an extension of ourselves, and sometimes that means they get the majority of our attention and affection," said Matt Schmitz, assistant managing editor of Cars.com.The survey reveals that Americans are so enamored with their vehicles that the majority (57%) admit they would rather take their car to the car wash than book themselves a haircut. Furthermore, Americans don't want to share their rides with anyone else — more than two-thirds (68%) would not allow their vehicle to be used for ride-sharing and 37% wouldn't even loan their car to a friend or family member.
Auto Repair Customers want only the best for their vehicles. That's why, according to AudienceSCAN, these shoppers are 84% more likely than other consumers to use a search engine to research the reputation of a businessperson and 110% more likely to check a company's blog to evaluate their expertise and subject knowledge. However, 25.2% of these consumers won't go past the first page of search results. They're also highly motivated by visual ads. Last year, Auto Repair Customers were driven to action by TV commercials (65.5%), email ads (59.7%) and outdoor ads (45%), and they're 67% more likely than others to find advertising on social networks useful.
AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. In addition, AdMall contains industry profiles on auto service centers and auto glass repair shops, as well as lead lists at the local level. Media companies, sales reps and agencies can access this data with a subscription to AdMall from SalesFuel.