Conversations about Car Brands
by John Moore TalkTrack Conversationalist, November 29, 2010Tags: Automotive, Brands, Keller Fay Group, offline, online, Social media, TalkTrack®, WOM, word of mouth
This is the final in a series of posts sharing Keller Fay TalkTrack® analysis on word of mouth in the automotive industry. The information shared below is from a comprehensive two-year study of nearly 100,000 brand-related conversations Americans have had offline and online about cars.
We’ve covered lots of territory in the past month sharing word of mouth insights into the Automotive industry. First, we learned the more talkable a brand is, the greater its market share. Next, we learned 35% of Americans have at least one brand-related conversation about cars every day. And, we learned how the recent automobile industry crisis impacted people’s conversations about cars.
Today, we’re sharing quick hit insights about specific car brands from a recent Keller Fay TalkTrack® report.
Ford is the most talked about brand in America. Throughout the recent crisis involving bailouts, bankruptcies, and recalls, most car brands experienced an increase in negative word of mouth sentiment. Not Ford. According to Keller Fay conversation data, Ford experienced strong and stable levels of positive word of mouth sentiment throughout the automobile crisis.
Chevrolet is the second most talked about car brand by Americans. Its prime talkers earn less than 75,000 dollars and are more likely to be blue-collar workers.
Toyota is the third most talked about car brand. However, it has experienced a significant change in conversation sentiment stemming from its massive recall program that began at the start of 2010. Prior to the recall, Toyota enjoyed very positive comments from Americans. However, at one point after the recall, there were more negative comments about Toyota than positive. By the fall of 2010, the sentiment had swung back to the positive side but not near the positive levels Toyota is used to experiencing.
Nissan has very high levels of positive conversations. The Hispanic customer base is more likely to talk about Nissan than any other car brand.
Honda also earns high levels of positive brand-related word of mouth. Its talkers are more likely to be college graduates working in white-collar jobs.
In comparison to other car brands, Mercedes Benz doesn’t get talked about a lot. However, its talkers are a quality group skewing more African-American, more educated, and more towards the executive audience.
Cadillac is a brand mentioned by executive level Americans. Also, it’s interesting to learn 21% of Cadillac talkers are African-American.
People who talk more about Mazda cars are likely to have children living at home and more likely to be Hispanic or African-American.
Subaru is a niche brand that doesn’t garner a lot of conversation among Americans. However, when Americans talk about Subaru, it is HIGHLY positive and those talkers are highly educated and well compensated.
When the General Motors brand gets talked about it’s not very positive. GM experiences a significantly mixed to negative conversation sentiment from Americans.
Women talk about the Volkswagen brand more than any other car brand.
Lexus, owned and operated by Toyota, experienced an increase in negative sentiment due in part by the Toyota recall issue. Lexus talkers are well-educated affluent executives.
Those are just some quick hit findings from a recent Keller Fay Group study. Much more information is available from Keller Fay. Thanks for riding shotgun alongside me as we shared word of mouth insights into the Automobile industry.
Feed
