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Car Buyers Say Newspapers Are the Most Helpful Info Source

15 June 2000

Car Buyers Say Newspapers Are the Most Helpful Info Source, According to Results of New NAA Report

    SAN FRANCISCO - Consumers looking to buy or lease a new vehicle find 
newspapers to be the most helpful information source for deciding which dealer 
to buy from and which model to purchase, according to a new national survey from 
the Newspaper Association of America.

    The study, "How New Vehicle Buyers use the Media to Help Them Decide,"
found that well over half (56 percent) of those surveyed said newspapers were
the most helpful source when deciding which dealership to visit.  That was
considerably more than the number-two response, television, which was cited by
only 15 percent of respondents.  Slightly more than one in 10 (12 percent)
said the Internet helped them select a dealer.

    Newspapers were also cited as the most helpful information source when
selecting which car model to buy.  Twenty-eight percent of respondents said
newspapers helped them the most here, while 24 percent cited television and
22 percent the Internet.

    Findings from the report, which looks at the role of various media
throughout the new vehicle purchase process, will be discussed today during
NAA's Classified Conference, being held June 15-18 at the San Francisco
Marriott and the Moscone Center.  The Classified Conference this year is being
held in conjunction with several other NAA meetings -- Connections(R),
Co-operative Marketing & Sales, Marketing, NEXPO(R) 2000 and Research -- under
the umbrella of Newspapers 2000, which runs from June 15-20 in San Francisco.

    Copies of the report's executive summary will be available at the Bona
Fide Classified booth at the Moscone Center.  The final report will be
completed later this year.

    "Buying or leasing a car is a major decision, and people look to
newspapers more than any other medium to provide them with the information
they need to make that decision a smart one," said John E. Kimball, NAA senior
vice president and chief marketing officer.  "There is a special bond between
automotive dealers, buyers and newspapers that is not easily encroached upon
or broken, although newspapers would do well not to assume it doesn't need
nurturing."

    The report also found that most consumers plan to use both newspapers and
the Internet more for their next vehicle purchase than they did for their most
recent.

    Maritz Marketing Research, Toledo, Ohio, conducted the survey for NAA from
Oct. 28 to Nov. 22, 1999.  Questionnaires were mailed to 12,000 U.S.
purchasers or lessees of new 1999 domestic and import vehicles.  Results are
based on 3,662 responses (31 percent response rate).

    Members of the working press who will be covering Newspapers 2000 can
register for credentials in the Press Office at the Moscone Center, room 111.
The Press Office will be open daily during the conference and then closes at
3 p.m. on June 20.

    Complete schedule and other information about Newspapers 2000 can be found
online at http://www.naa.org/newspapers2000 .  NEXPO-specific information is located
at http://www.nexpo.com .

    Sponsors of NAA's Newspapers 2000 are: AdOne, LLC; AdMall.com/Sales
Development Services, Inc.; AdStar.com; Agfa Corporation; ASTECH InterMedia;
American Profile; Belden Associates; Bruce Bell & Associates, Inc.;
Celebro.com; Claritas, Inc.; David Geller Associates/Top Value Media;
enews.com; Expo Experts, LLC; Flint Ink; Goss Graphic Systems; Heidelberg Web
Systems; iCopyright.com; InfiNet; KASPAR SHO-RACK; KOZ.com; MAN Roland; Mayer
Motivations; megawheels.com; Metropolitan Sunday Newspapers; Multi-Ad
Services; MyWay.com; NewsBank, inc.; NEWSDEALS.com; Newspaper National
Network; NICC; Ontempo; Pentawave, Inc.; PowerAdz; Real Media, Inc.; ReCAS (a
product of Multi-Ad Services); San Jose Mercury News; Scarborough Research;
SportsHuddle.com; SRDS; System Integrators, Inc. (Sii); TC Advertising; TERA;
Flywheel Media; Tribune Media Services; US Ink; VISA U.S.A., Inc.; USA
WEEKEND.

    NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $57 billion newspaper
industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.  Most NAA
members are daily newspapers, accounting for 87 percent of the U.S. daily
circulation.  Headquartered in Tysons Corner (Vienna, Va.), the Association
focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry
collectively:  marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development,
newspaper operations and readership.