Short answer
Design strategies for automotive sales and marketing should actively incorporate and enhance the in-dealership experience, as it plays a critical role in consumer decision-making beyond purely functional aspects.
- Field
- Innovation & Markets
- Source
- Quantitative Marketing and Economics (2020)
- Method
- Empirical analysis using proprietary data
- Evidence
- Strong effect
The physical act of visiting a dealership provides substantial, unquantifiable benefits to consumers during their automotive purchasing journey, influencing search costs and overall satisfaction. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2020 study published in Quantitative Marketing and Economics. Using Empirical analysis using proprietary data, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Design strategies for automotive sales and marketing should actively incorporate and enhance the in-dealership experience, as it plays a critical role in consumer decision-making beyond purely functional aspects.
Dealership Visits Significantly Impact Consumer Search Benefits in the Auto Industry
The physical act of visiting a dealership provides substantial, unquantifiable benefits to consumers during their automotive purchasing journey, influencing search costs and overall satisfaction.
Quantitative Marketing and Economics · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Dealership visits provide substantial benefits to consumers.
- 02Failure to account for the standard deviation of product fit leads to biased estimates of search costs and consumer surplus.
- 03Inaccurate search cost estimations result in poor predictions of consumer search behavior and the impact of initiatives like at-home test drives.
Application
Design takeaway
Design strategies for automotive sales and marketing should actively incorporate and enhance the in-dealership experience, as it plays a critical role in consumer decision-making beyond purely functional aspects.
How to apply
When designing customer journeys for high-consideration purchases, ensure that the physical interaction points are optimized to deliver tangible and intangible value, and consider how to measure this value in research.
Project actions
- 01Consider how physical interactions in your design project contribute to user satisfaction beyond basic functionality.
- 02Think about how to measure or qualitatively assess the 'benefit' of a physical experience in your research.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Utilizes unique, large-scale datasets combining geolocation and purchase data.
- +Employs an exogenous cost shifter (distance) to identify causal relationships.
Limitations
The data used in this study is specific to the U.S. auto market and may not apply to other industries or countries. The 'benefit' of dealership visits is complex and difficult to fully quantify.
Reliability & validity
The use of large, real-world datasets and an exogenous variable strengthens the study's validity. Reliability is supported by the consistency of findings across different analytical approaches.
Think critically
How can designers and researchers effectively measure and incorporate the 'benefit' of physical interactions into their design process, especially when digital solutions are increasingly prevalent?
Design Principles
"The physical touchpoint in a consumer journey often provides intangible value that must be accounted for in market analysis and strategic planning."
Understanding the true value of dealership interactions is crucial for automotive manufacturers and retailers. Ignoring these benefits can lead to inaccurate market predictions and ineffective strategies, particularly as digital alternatives emerge.
What This Means for Your Design
Going to a car dealership helps people decide what car to buy in ways that are hard to measure with just data. If you don't count this help, you might get the wrong idea about how much people search and what they like.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify the importance of user testing in a physical environment for your design project.
- 2.Cite this study when discussing how user experience is influenced by more than just product features.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
Research indicates that physical interactions, such as dealership visits in the automotive sector, provide significant, often unquantifiable, benefits to consumers that impact their search costs and overall satisfaction. This highlights the importance of considering the full spectrum of user experience, including tangible and intangible aspects of physical touchpoints, when designing products and services.
Source
Quantitative Marketing and Economics
Consumer search in the U.S. auto industry: The role of dealership visits
journal · 2020
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about dealership visits significantly impact consumer search benefits in the auto industry?
- Design strategies for automotive sales and marketing should actively incorporate and enhance the in-dealership experience, as it plays a critical role in consumer decision-making beyond purely functional aspects. Evidence: Quantitative Marketing and Economics (2020).
- Why does "Dealership Visits Significantly Impact Consumer Search Benefits in the Auto Industry" matter for design?
- Understanding the true value of dealership interactions is crucial for automotive manufacturers and retailers. Ignoring these benefits can lead to inaccurate market predictions and ineffective strategies, particularly as digital alternatives emerge.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Design strategies for automotive sales and marketing should actively incorporate and enhance the in-dealership experience, as it plays a critical role in consumer decision-making beyond purely functional aspects.
- What were the main findings?
- Dealership visits provide substantial benefits to consumers.. Failure to account for the standard deviation of product fit leads to biased estimates of search costs and consumer surplus.. Inaccurate search cost estimations result in poor predictions of consumer search behavior and the impact of initiatives like at-home test drives.
- What research method was used?
- Empirical analysis using proprietary data.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2020 journal from Quantitative Marketing and Economics.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing customer journeys for high-consideration purchases, ensure that the physical interaction points are optimized to deliver tangible and intangible value, and consider how to measure this value in research.
- What are the limitations?
- The study relies on specific data sets and may not be generalizable to all consumer markets or product categories.