More car shoppers happy to peruse a virtual lot
Shopping for cars online has reached parity with visits to dealer lots as the primary method for used-vehicle buyers to locate their next ride, and it’s the CarSoups and AutoTraders of the world - not dealer Web sites - that are reaping the benefits of the influx in online car shopping. The percentage of used-vehicle buyers who rely on the Internet as a method for 
locating vehicles for sale has increased from 40 percent in 2008 to 46 percent in 2009 - equal to the percentage of buyers who visit dealer lots as their primary shopping method, according to Westlake Village, Calif., research company J.D. Power and Associates. Furthermore, 31 percent of buyers found the vehicle they ultimately purchased on the Internet, compared with 28 percent of buyers who found their vehicle by visiting dealerships.
Among used-vehicle buyers who use the Internet in their shopping process, third-party sites are visited during the shopping process much more frequently than other types of sites, including dealer Web sites. More than 90 percent of buyers say they visited at least one third-party Web site during the shopping process. Slightly more than three-fourths of used-vehicle buyers report visiting a dealer Web site.
Awareness of certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle programs is strong, with more than 60 percent of used-vehicle buyers indicating they intend to purchase CPO vehicles at the start of their shopping process. One-half of all buyers of CPO vehicles say they used the Internet to locate used vehicles, while a slightly lower percentage (45 percent) shopped primarily by driving to dealer lots. The percentage of buyers who visited dealer Web sites specifically for CPO vehicle information has increased to 29 percent in 2009, compared with 19 percent in 2008. Other traditional sources of used-vehicle information such as newspapers, television and radio have low usage rates among buyers seeking CPO-vehicle information. For more information visit www.jdpower.com.
Is Facebook the Google of social networking?
Facebook is not only the overwhelming favorite social networking site among college students, it may also be the only one that matters. When considered among seven leading social networking sites, Facebook was viewed as “cool” by 82 percent of males and 90 percent of females, according to the 2009-2010 GenX2Z American College Student Survey, conducted by Stamford, Conn., research company Anderson Analytics. All other social networking sites were deemed “lame” by significant percentages of both male and female collegiate users. In particular, the original social networking juggernaut MySpace was considered lame by the largest portion of college students (31 percent). But Facebook isn’t only beating out its dwindling social net-work competitors, it has even surpassed Google as the No. 1 most-popular Web site among both genders of college students surveyed.
These results seem to buck conventional wisdom, given Facebook’s increasing popularity among the older adult population, including the parents and even the grandparents of the once Facebook-elite college students. “Once a trend goes mainstream, it often gradually loses its cool factor among young people, and they move on to the next big thing,” said Tom H.C. Anderson, managing partner of Anderson Analytics. “Our data indicates this is not the case with Facebook. In fact, while the media has been predicting its decline, Facebook’s staying power among the influential age 18-25 demographic suggests that a social networking shake-out may have occurred, and as the dust settles, it looks like Facebook is the hands-down winner.”
In an equally-important development, college students of both genders are participating less in blogs and discussion boards than in previous years (down 5 percent and 8 percent, respectively, compared to 2008). These results bode well for microblogging sites like Twitter, whose growth flattened in the end of 2009.
Anderson predicts Facebook will also eventually make greater use of streaming media, specifically TV shows and movies. “Seventy percent of college students in our survey said they had watched either an entire television episode or full-length movie online,” says Anderson. And for the first time since the survey was launched in 2005, Hulu.com, a streaming media Web site, ranked among students’ 10 most-popular Web sites.
The study also revealed an interesting possible correlation between Facebook fan-page members and the popularity of certain brands with college students. For example, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s ranked first in their categories between both genders surveyed. Both brands also had substantially more Facebook fans for their pages versus their respective No. 2 competitors. Strikingly, Coke Facebook fans outnumbered Pepsi fans by approximately 20 to 1. For more information visit www.andersonanalytics.com.
CEOs - not ex-politicos - persuasive in endorsements
When it comes to helping sell, almost two in five U.S. adults find business leaders to be most persuasive when they endorse a product in an ad, according to a study from Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive. On the other hand, 39 percent of Americans say they find former political figures to be least persuasive when they endorse a product or service. And the age groups being targeted are a factor as well; certain celebrities are seen as more persuasive by different age ranges.
Looking at other types of celebrities and their persuasiveness, 21 percent say they find athletes to be most persuasive; 18 percent say television or movie stars are most persuasive; 14 percent say singers or musicians; and 10 percent say former political figures are most persuasive.
When it comes to how other celebrities rank in the category of least persuasive, almost half of respondents ages 35-44 say they feel former political figures are least persuasive, compared to one-third of those ages 18-34. Almost half of all respondents ages 55+ say business leaders are most persuasive, compared to only 28 percent of 18-34-year-olds. Twenty-three percent of 18-34-year-olds say television or movie stars are most persuasive, while only 15 percent of those 55+ feel the same way.
Almost one-quarter of all respondents say television or movie stars are least persuasive, while 14 percent and 13 percent say business leaders and athletes are least persuasive, respectively. Eleven percent say singers or musicians are least persuasive. For more information visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Five Guys indexed as No. 1 QSR
Chik-fil-A and McDonald’s garnered the highest number of votes for favorite quick-service restaurant (QSR) in a 2009 survey, but not all chains are created equal. While McDonald’s has almost 14,000 locations in North America, Chik-fil-A has one-tenth that number, and Five Guys Burgers and Fries has just 3 percent of the McDonald’s chain reach.
Since consumers are likely to vote for restaurants they are familiar with, Louisville, Colo., insights company Market Force wanted to see which chains would win out when the number of restaurants was also considered. So while survey respondents selected Chik-fil-A and McDonald’s as their single favorite QSRs and both received the highest number of votes from consumers across the country (11 percent of the total for each), once the number of restaurants was taken into account, Five Guys and Chik-fil-A were selected as the No. 1 and No. 2 favorites. Five Guys emerged on top of the list with 14.4 percent, followed by Chik-fil-A in second with 12.5 percent. Chipotle and Panera Bread were third and fourth, respectively, with 7.7 percent and 7.3 percent.
When the respondents were asked to score these same restaurant chains for characteristics they appreciate most, Chik-fil-A scored highest in three out of nine categories: friendliness, cleanliness and accommodating children. Five Guys tied Chipotle for highest in quality of food and ranked second in friendliness and cleanliness.
When asked to predict their spending habits with QSRs in the first three months of 2010, slightly more than half of those surveyed said they expected to eat out about the same amount, and an additional 5 percent said they expected to eat out more at QSRs during the first quarter. Forty-four percent said they planned to cut back their patronage at fast-food restaurants. For more information visit www.marketforce.com.
30 hours a week, kids watch TV like it’s their job
American children ages 2-11 are watching more television than they have in years, and the majority of viewing is done watching live TV. TV viewing among kids is at an eight-year high, according to data from New York researcher The Nielsen Company. Kids ages 2-5 spend more than 32 hours a week on average in front of a TV screen, while the 6-11-year-olds spend about 28 hours per week watching TV, due in part to attending school for longer hours.
While 97 percent of kids’ viewing is through live TV, younger kids spend more time than the older group viewing via DVR, DVD and, to a lesser extent, VCR. Four percent of kids ages 2-5 watch via those devices on average across total day, compared to 2.3 percent for those ages 6-11. One more thing younger kids do more than those in the older age group is watch more commercials. Young kids also watch commercials in playback mode more than older kids and adults, as well as watch their favorite shows over and over on DVD, VOD and DVR.
Older kids may not use the DVR, DVD and VCR as much as the very young, but they spend twice as much time playing video games - 2 hours and 23 minutes a week compared to 1 hour and 12 minutes for those ages 2-5. Internet usage among older kids is also significantly higher, as nearly half the 6-11-year-olds spent time on the Internet in August 2009 versus 20 percent of 2-5-year-olds. For more information visit www.nielsen.com.
Restaurant-goers welcome all-day breakfast options
Consumers find breakfast fare comforting and many, especially women, wish they could eat it at any time of the day. Nearly half of consumers (46 percent) say they would like to see full-service restaurants offer breakfast throughout the day, according to a survey from Chicago consultancy Technomic. About a third of consumers would like breakfast offered all day in limited-service restaurants. In both cases, females were significantly more interested in breakfast items for lunch or dinner than were males.
“Operators looking to expand breakfast into other dayparts should be mindful of their customer base and develop new offerings accordingly,” says Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic. “Under-standing the general flavor, ingredient and preparation preferences held by female consumers can help operators and suppliers introduce the most appealing breakfast options beyond morning hours for these guests.”
Other interesting findings include: one out of four consumers often treat themselves to a large, traditional breakfast on the weekend; 43 percent say they visit their preferred restaurant for weekend breakfasts because the food tastes really good, while weekday breakfast visits are driven by inexpensive offerings (45 percent) and convenience of location (38 percent); and 63 percent say they expect their breakfast purchases at restaurants and convenience stores to remain about the same in the coming year.
Compared to the 2007 survey, breakfast has increased in popularity: 77 percent of consumers in 2009 purchase breakfast sandwiches sometimes or often during weekdays, compared to 73 percent in 2007, and breakfast sandwiches fared even better on weekends, increasing from 61 percent in 2007 to 70 percent in 2009; 34 percent prefer premium coffee as compared to 29 percent in 2007; 35 percent say they would like fast-food establishments to offer more healthy options, down from 43 percent in 2007; and leading fast-casual restaurant chains are adding new entrees and side items to their breakfast menus faster than any other restaurant subsegment. For more information visit www.technomic.com.
Media pushing phantom organic ‘trend’?
As more traditional retailers expand their selection of organic food and beauty products, and as the media continues to focus more attention on this so-called emerging trend, there has been no growth in the number of U.S. consumers that purchase these products, according to a study from Tabs Group, a Shelton, Conn., research company. Organic food and beauty products continue to be niche products that have yet to penetrate a mass audience. Identical to 2008, only 38 percent of adults claim to have purchased anything from the major organic categories in the last six months.
Organic fresh fruit had the highest purchase incidence at 26 percent, with organic fresh vegetables close behind at 25 percent. Organic dairy products (eggs and milk) were cited for purchase by 17 percent and 16 percent of U.S. adults, respectively. Frozen organic products (vegetables, fruit and ice cream) had low pur-chase levels at 5-7 percent. Purchase levels for organic beauty care products also had very low mainstream acceptance, with stated purchase for organic skin care at 6 percent and organic hair care and cosmetics at 4 percent. There was no meaningful change in the household penetration of any of these categories compared to the 2008 study. By contrast, non-organic products for all of the above categories have household penetration levels of well above 70 percent.
The study found that traditional supermarkets were the preferred outlets for these products compared to natural food stores by a margin of 39 percent to 27 percent. However, while there were 50 percent more organic shoppers at traditional outlets than natural food outlets, there are 20-30 times more of these outlets. For more information visit www.tabsgroup.com.