This report looks at five inter-related issues surrounding customer involvement with the car buying process. These five issues can be summarised as 'The Customer Journey': in other words, the when, where and what of consumer decisions on whether to buy a car or to do business with a particular dealer and the related issues of trust, loyalty and satisfaction.

The customer's journey consists of five stages, which will form the structure of the bulk of this report: awareness; purchase intent triggers; research and familiarity; becoming a customer; and post-sales customer.

Over 24 questions were asked in total, covering the following topics:

  • Current levels of car ownership and the type of car currently owned
  • Who decided the make and model of car to buy, and where was it purchased
  • Opinion of staff in car showrooms/dealers/car supermarkets
  • Actions taken before a car was purchased
  • Usage of and rating of the after-sales services of dealers
  • How strongly consumers would like to buy a car at this moment in time and how likely consumers are to buy a car within the next two years
  • Reasons for wanting to buy
  • If a car is to be purchased in the next two years, what type would it most likely be, where would it be bought and who would make the decision
  • How loyal current car owners are to their existing manufacturer and dealer
  • Whether or not a car purchase be financed
  • What sources of information consumers use when searching for cars
  • The factors that have the strongest influence on car purchase

To download a table of contents for this report, click here.