Social media drives UAE auto sales

Social media has emerged as one of the main factors that influence consumers' buying intentions in the auto industry - while the importance of traditional advertising has declined, according to a new report.

The joint study by Zarca Interactive and GolinHarris, shows that 25.7% of UAE participants base their decision on what car to purchase from opinions and reviews appearing on social media, blogs and forums.

Only 10.1% of the 444 people surveyed believed their buying habits were affected by TV advertisements, while just 5.4% considered outdoor billboards to hold any sway. Radio came even lower with only 2.7% believing they had been influenced by ads on the airwaves.

Combined spending for traditional advertising streams, including TV, radio and outdoor, in the UAE totalled $43.8m in 2011, out of a combined $349m ad spend - the highest in the Middle East. "Advertisers, marketers and communicators need to veer to the fast lane where actual consumer decisions are swayed away from traditional media," says George Kotsolios, Joint Managing Director at GolinHarris.

"Look at mobile advertising figures in America, which is estimated to exceed the $5bn mark by 2015. Information consumption habits constantly change due to technological innovations and markets and sectors need to move with the times."

Even though consumers are increasingly influenced by online media to determine what car to buy, auto makers only invested Dhs24m on Internet marketing in 2011 - the industry seemingly out of touch or finding it difficult to make a successful transition into the digital age.

Country of origin plays a huge role in buying habits

According to Zarca there are other factors in play, with 59.5% of respondents saying that a car's country of origin is a major decision influencer.

Javed Farooqui, Executive Director & Head Middle East and Africa Zarca Interactive says: "With the exception of Germany, with four of its brands amongst those considered for purchase by UAE residents, European brands do not fare well in terms of intention to buy.

"Britain, France and Italy see just one of their brands each in the same list. Japanese and American cars list a combined total of 12 brands dominating UAE consumers 'preferences."

Word of mouth top influencer of car buying in UAE

The study found the highest influencer of car buying habits in the UAE was word of mouth, with 68.2% of those surveyed citing it as the main factor. Nearly 80% also pointed to previous experience being highly important.

Other key factors include perceived reliability (viewed as important by 61.5% of respondents), durability (58.1%), value for money (48.7%), fuel efficiency (37.2%) and low emissions (29.7%).

Less than half of respondents (42.6%) plan on buying new cars, while 33.7% showed a preference for SUVs and 20.6& eyed luxury sedans.

Toyota topped the pile of favoured manufacturers with a quarter of respondents mulling a purchase from the Japanese firm. BMW came second with 13% of those surveyed preferring the German carmaker, followed by Mercedes, Ford and Nissan respectively.

The survey was conducted online with drivers invited to participate via email, Twitter and Facebook. Most respondents were aged 41 or older (49%) with an even spread of ages below 40. Of those surveyed, Asian expats accounted for almost half of the results (46%), followed by westerners (12%), local Emiratis (9.5%) and Arab expat consumers (7%), Farooqui told AMEinfo.com.