Study: TV Ads Don't Sell Cars

october 13, 2003  10:27 am
Management consultants Cap Gemini Ernst & Young found only 17% of the 700 U.S. consumers it surveyed in the past six months said TV ads influenced their car-buying decisions. Ads on Internet search engines influenced 26% of consumers. Nearly half, or 48%, of the consumers said a direct-mail offer from a car dealer would influence their vehicle purchases, but the most influential measure was word-of-mouth, cited by 71% of consumers. Cap Gemini expects to release its complete findings this week.