Survey: Word-of-mouth has biggest influence on car purchase

Public Resource

A surveyed of more than 1,100 current car shoppers found:

Word-of-mouth from friends, family, and coworkers has the biggest impact on what vehicle people buy, with 52% of respondents saying it had influenced their decision.
Data-backed organizations like Consumer Reports and J.D. Power ranked second on the list of influences for car shopping, with 33% of respondents saying this had influenced them.
Media awards like the North American Car/Truck/Utility of the Year, and those handed out by outlets like Motor Trend, Car & Driver, KBB.com, and Edmunds.com ranked third, with 26% of shoppers citing their influence.
Younger shoppers (18-23 years old) had different influences than all other age groups; this cohort relied more on social media influencers and YouTube than any of the other age groups, and less on data-backed organizations. Overall, only 11% of respondents across all age groups cited social media influencers as influential.