Automotive Magazines Have Biggest Influence on Car Purchases in France

Automotive magazine ads are also most likely to attract a buyer’s attention

Automotive magazines—including their ads, websites and articles—most often persuade car buyers in France to research new vehicle brands or models. But they don’t just encourage buyers to research within the industry: When it comes to which media sources help buyers select a vehicle make or model, automotive magazines are also most persuasive.

In December 2015, Mondadori Publicité and iligo surveyed internet users in France who had purchased a new car in the past year. About two in five (41%) said that an auto magazine had helped them select a specific vehicle make or model, while only 12% said digital ads had done the same thing.

Auto magazines are also valuable higher in the purchase funnel: 40% of respondents said they had attracted their attention, the highest response rate of any medium surveyed.

Once more, digital ads failed to keep up: Less than 20% of those surveyed were attracted to a digital ad. But this makes sense: Auto magazines include, beyond ads, actual content, like the aforementioned articles. So buyers who are in the market would naturally be drawn to car-centric content found in these magazines.

And car buyers in France prefer to go straight to the sources when selecting vehicle types: 26% did so via the brand's app or website, whereas places like automotive blogs and forums convinced less than 20% of buyers to choose a specific vehicle.

For car buyers in France, it's all about automotive magazines and brand engagement.