WebProNews

If you’re going to do some car research, odds are good that you’ll be doing it online.  A new study indicates that consumers are turning to the web more than ever - and they’re turning, more specifically, to manufacturers’ websites.  “Offline” resources, by comparison, seem to be dwindling in terms of importance.

Data posted on eMarketer proves this point: “Reliance on print media dropped to 25% of respondents in 2006, from 32% in 2005, while TV advertising remained flat, with 24% of respondents in 2006, compared to 23% in 2005.”  These are only slight drops, but . . . .

Compare those numbers with the statistics for manufacturers’ sites: “49% of respondents planned to use them in 2006, compared with only 31% in 2005.”  Don’t count out dealer websites, either - visits to them should have experienced a similar increase from 31% to 43%.

Yet one thing that I’d consider as an invaluable resource wasn’t even monitored in 2005; in 2006, just 16% of the survey’s correspondents intended to visit “Web forums or discussion groups.”  If you’re unfamiliar with these forums, check ‘em out - their members can help you with anything from floor mats to forced induction.

Still, eMarketer’s lists are pretty extensive.  In fact, the category of “Web sites, but not automobile Web sites” surprised me by ranking as the “Best Source for Automotive Information according to US In-Market Internet Users” (with 31.9% of the vote).

So go.  Do research.  And do it well, ‘cause your car will probably be with you for a few years.