SAN FRANCISCO--October 10, 2012: Jumpstart Automotive Group today revealed interesting online car shopping trends by U.S. region. Jumpstart, a division of Hearst Magazines, provides innovative marketing solutions for automotive advertisers based on the reach and performance of its automotive publisher partners.
“It's interesting to see the role socioeconomics plays in online shopping trends”
The company's Strategic Insights department analyzed the consumer behaviors of roughly 19 million monthly unique users across its suite of 14 automotive websites from January to June 2012, in conjunction with an analysis of regional indicators, to draw connections between specific U.S. territories and the most popularly researched vehicles and top car shopping considerations among consumers within those territories. The results follow:
- People living in the Northwest represent the highest concentration of hybrid car shoppers of any territory in the U.S., while those who shop for compact cars are predominantly located in the Southwest.
- North Central states are home to the highest concentration of Sedan and SUV shoppers.
- People living in South Central states shop for trucks more prevalently than other vehicle segments, while consumers living in Northeastern and Southeastern states represent the highest concentration of luxury car shoppers.
- Price is the number one shopping consideration among consumers in the Northwest and South Central U.S., while vehicle features such as color, styling, performance and safety rank highest in shopping considerations among residents in the North East.
- Consumers living in the country's North Central and Southeast regions are typically evenly influenced by both price and vehicle features, with one having no greater impact than the other.
| U.S. Region | Top Vehicle Segment(s) | Top Shopping Consideration | ||
| Northwest | Hybrids | Price | ||
| Southwest | Compacts | Features | ||
| North Central | Sedans/SUVs | Price/Features | ||
| South Central | Trucks | Price | ||
| Northeast | Luxury | Features | ||
| Southeast | Luxury | Price/Features |
The top three U.S. regions representing the largest share of online shoppers across Jumpstart's audience -- and the top two states within each region -- are the Northeast (New York/Pennsylvania), North Central U.S. (Ohio/Illinois), and the Southwest (California/Colorado).
| U.S. Region | Top States for Online Car Shoppers | |
| 1) Northeast | New York | |
| Pennsylvania | ||
| 2) North Central | Ohio | |
| Illinois | ||
| 3) Southwest | California | |
| Colorado |
Across Jumpstart's suite of 14 automotive shopping and influencer websites, new car pricing and specifications, new car reviews and new car listings were the most researched of all the online vehicle information available. Shoppers in the Northeast and South Central U.S. viewed photo galleries of new cars more prevalently than other shoppers in the study.
Finally, residents in the state of California had the highest concentration of used car shoppers, followed closely by those living in Texas.
"It's interesting to see the role socioeconomics plays in online shopping trends," said Libby Murad-Patel, Senior Director of Jumpstart Strategic Insights. "Factors such as employment, income and standard of living, and the social and cultural influences of a particular region, drive online consumer consideration. Even geographic aspects like weather and transportation systems play a part. Our audience of nearly 20 million monthly car shoppers has helped us paint a market-reflective picture of the vehicles people want based on the areas in which they live."
For more automotive data and online shopper information, visit Jumpstart Strategic Insights at Jumpstart Automotive Group.
