Buying a new vehicle during the pandemic has been difficult for consumers whose budgets won’t allow them to spend the average price of $38,414, according to Cox Automotive. Recent 2020 surveys from The Media Audit for the Reno, NV and Syracuse, NY markets reveal radio outperforms TV when targeting consumers who must spend less than the average, or between $20,000 and $30,000, for their next new vehicle.
The prime auto-buying audience is adults 25–54. In Reno, 7.3% of that age group will pay $20,000–$30,000 for their next vehicle while 5% of those in Syracuse are prepared to spend that much.
Although TV reaches slightly more of these adults overall than radio during an average day, drilling into the data reveals a quite different story. In both markets, radio’s reach is more than twice as much as TV’s for those adults 25–54 who have heavy and medium exposure to the two media.
“Radio is more effective and efficient than TV, especially when considering the cost of creative, at reaching adults 25–54 who want to spend between $20,000–$30,000 for a new vehicle. Critical points to consider when local car dealerships allocate a majority of their ad dollars to the medium,” said Tim Robisch, West Coast Market Manager, The Media Audit.
Interestingly, the radio-TV comparison is very similar for adults 25–54 who are willing to pay as much as the average price of $38,414, or between $30,000 and $40,000, for their next vehicle.
“This comparative data for adults 25–54 who plan to spend $30,000–$40,000 for their next vehicle clearly indicates auto-dealer groups and local dealers could generate even better results with their ad dollars to reach this prime audience with local radio,” said Robisch.
It is also more likely adults 25–54 who plan to pay $20,000–$30,000 or $30,000–$40,000 for their next vehicle are using their TV sets (or other devices) to watch streaming video content versus linear TV programming.
The Media Audit data supports this conclusion, as 71.5% of Reno adults 25–54 planning to spend $20,000–$30,000 and 95.3% planning to spend $30,000–$40,000 watched video streaming during the past seven days. The percentages exceed 90% for both spending levels in Syracuse: 97.8% of adults 25–54 planning to spend $20,000–$30,000 and 93.4% planning to spend $30,000–$40,000.