Commuters are projected to use more public transportation options daily with a 40% target by 2030 according to the National Land Public Transport Master Plan.
In 2017, Malaysian car purchases declined by 0.6 percent compared to the previous year, and the Malaysian Automotive Association is forecasting that the total industry volume (TIV) for new cars to grow at around 5% this year before slowly declining to 2.1% in 2021.
The study focused on four key stages of owning a vehicle:
1.Purchase consideration - “I want a new car.”
2.Initial research -- “I want to know my options.”
3. Further research -- “I want to narrow down my options.”
4. Point of sale -- “I want to purchase my final choice.”
Research, which is considered the most important stage, accounts for 34% of consumers saying that they approach the purchase from no prior product knowledge, rely heavily on research before making an investment.
About 96% of Malaysians conduct their initial research online over an average duration of two months before they decide on a car.
It was also found that brand loyalty is high among Malaysians, with eight out of 10 returning to the same brand after considering an average of 2.7 brands before the final purchase.
Other findings saw 37% of respondents saying that they ended up buying a brand they did not initially intend.
Much of the opportunity to influence happens during the online initial research process, with 74% of consumers saying that they were open to considering new brands.
Also, 93% of Malaysian consumers said that the online search was an influential source of information, which helps to greatly inform their purchasing decision with ‘User reviews’ topping the search list, followed by ‘best prices’, ‘professional reviews’, ‘price comparisons’, ‘quality performance’ and ‘offers.’
Online videos are very effective during the further research stage.
As many much as 87% of consumers followed up their initial research by watching review videos and testimonials and said those influenced their final car model choice.
Dealerships remain critical offline touch-points, and online research is crucial for driving consumers there.
Both search and video work hand-in-hand with 1-in-4 consumers going to dealerships after using search and 37% (or roughly 4-in-10) of consumers visited a dealership after watching online videos.
Additionally, an outright 1-in-4 decided to purchase the car directly because of watching an online video about the brand.
“By promoting prices, quality and performance on the right channels and/or stage of the journey, brands can grab attention and steer consumers their way,” said Google Malaysia business development manager Meredith Wallace.
