Analysis of car buyer comments sheds new light
Using advanced text analysis to analyse feedback from visitors to 18 branded automotive web sites in North America and Europe, attitudinal research experts at iPerception Inc. have uncovered some useful tips about the time-sensitive needs of potential vehicle buyers.
Based on the textual analysis of its '2004/2005 Aggregated Automotive Industry Database' (a knowledge base consisting of quantitative and qualitative feedback from 28,000 actual visitors to automotive web sites), the company found that:
- Web site visitors who were "in the market" to buy a vehicle within the next thirty days most wanted access to a dealer locator feature and more specific technical information on the new car they were planning to purchase;
- Visitors with a purchase horizon of one to six months were most seeking features such as payment calendars and interest rate calculators;
- Those looking to make a purchase beyond the six-month time frame most wanted more information on future model innovations and more descriptive pictures.
Early warning system In addition to studying feedback from the company's own databases, the company is also using advanced text analysis to analyse visitor feedback obtained from all of its client's webValidator customer satisfaction systems, allowing clients to immediately identify important issues and concerns as well as changes in visitors' attitudes and perceptions - a kind of early warning system.
Duff Anderson, vice president of research & development for iPerception, explained: "Because we are now able to continuously listen to the voice of the customer, we can quantify and rank concerns and issues based on their open-ended feedback and immediately provide clients with warning flags when new issues appear on the horizon."
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