What Do Bloggers Think of Automakers?

September 24, 2008

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WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — With blogging now a norm in today's society, J.D. Power and Associates decided to take a closer look at what these Web writers are saying about auto brands, particularly when it comes to who is the "greenest."

Apparently, when reviewing spontaneous discussion about environmental sustainability, J.D. Power found that three automakers stood out by receiving a higher-than-average number of positive mentions. As perhaps expected, two of these brands were Honda and Toyota.

However, also making the top three was General Motors.

Interestingly enough, the study found that most conversations about auto brands and environmental sustainability tended to be positive or neutral, officials indicated. Very few conversations were negative.

Basically, the report — conducted by J.D. Power's Web Intelligence Division — examined consumer conversations via online blogs to determine their level of engagement with environmental issues and how that is affecting their buying habits and preferences.

Based on data from these conversations, the report classified brands by volume (number of new mentions per week) and by percentage of positive mentions.

Brands are then categorized by four quadrants:

—Pacesetters: Brands with higher-than-average volume and higher-than-average positive sentiment.

—Contenders: Brands with lower-than-average volume but higher positive sentiment

—Emerging: Nameplates with higher-than-average volume but lower positive sentiment.

—Challenged: These makes have lower-than-average volume and low positive sentiment.

Nameplates receiving less than 1 percent of the total number of online social media mentions are deemed "dormant" in online discussions of sustainability.

Toyota, Honda and GM were all considered pacesetters, while Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Nissan were contenders. Ford was labeled as emerging.

Hummer, Dodge, BMW, Chevrolet and Chrysler all fell into the challenged category.

More specifically, Toyota led the way in volume, as it accounted for 14 percent of all posts involving auto brands and sustainability. Meanwhile, GM was second at 11 percent.

GM earned a greater percentage of positive mentions (49 percent) than Toyota (46 percent). However, more consumers talked about Honda positively (53 percent). But, at 7 percent, this brand had significantly less volume than the other pacesetters.

"It is not unexpected that Toyota is mentioned frequently in the blogosphere by environmentally conscious consumers due to the success and popularity of the Prius," commented Chance Parker, vice president and general manager of the Web Intelligence Division at J.D. Power.

"What might be more surprising to some is the strong showing that GM has made within the blogging community that is concerned with environmental sustainability," Parker added. "All of the effort that GM has made to market its hybrid vehicles and future powertrains — such as the electric technology that will be featured in the Volt — appears to be resonating with consumers."

Nissan was ahead of all other brands in terms of positive discussion at 56 percent, but received only 2 percent volume, which put it in the contender group.

Ford, meanwhile, had significant volume (8 percent), but its positive mentions were only 43 percent.

The report indicated that the following topics were among the most frequently talked about by bloggers:

—News and sources of information about eco-sustainability.

—Various sustainable products.

—Impact of sustainability efforts on natural resources

—Causes of environmental problems.

—Effects of eco-sustainability efforts.

—Solutions to environmental problems.

"Sustainability and consumer efforts to curb their eco-footprint are making headlines in almost every industry, from automotive and energy, to grocers and big-box retailers," stated Janet Eden-Harris, vice president of the Web Intelligence Division.

"Blogosphere conversations about environmental sustainability have been growing dramatically during the past 18 months, indicating that this issue has hit the consumer mainstream, and is starting to impact consumer perceptions of the brands they buy," she added.

"Based on the topics that generate the most buzz among environmentally conscious bloggers, it's clear that consumers are actively seeking out information and looking for products that will help them reduce their eco-footprints," Eden-Harris continued.

Other findings of the study included:

—More than 320,000 conversations about environmental sustainability, global warming, conscious consumerism and related topics were found among English-language posts between March and August 2008.

—The volume of discussions concerning environmental sustainability increased by 160 percent during 2007, and another 250 percent during the first six months of 2008.

For more information, visit www.jdpower.com.

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