People are clearly talking about major US auto brands on Twitter (52%), but a significant portion (39%) of conversations is happening in forums. That’s according to a report from Crimson Hexagon [download page], which analyzed social conversations surrounding the top auto brands (Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Toyota and Nissan) by sales.
Only 9% of conversations about these brands is occurring on Facebook, per the report.
For 2 of the 5 brands – Ford and Toyota – conversations in forums outweighed those on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the top forum site by post volume last year was reddit.com: it was the leading site for all but one of the brands (Chevy, where it was second to corvetteforum.com).
What’s the Buzz?
While Ford and Toyota were the two best-selling brands in 2016, Honda (ranking 4th) was the most talked-about brand, having supplanted Chevrolet as the most buzz-worthy brand in around 2015.
Nissan, meanwhile, is referenced less than half as much as the top two brands.
When it comes to cars, what are people discussing on social media?
This report reveals that across the top 5 car brands, fuel efficiency is the hottest topic, while people also want to air their dealership grievances.
Ford and Toyota were the most frequently mentioned in both categories. Toyota, in particular, was a stand-out among discussions about reliability, the 3rd most popular subject of conversation.
Worth noting is that research has found reliability to be the most important vehicle attribute to people across generations.
As for age groups, different brackets express different preferences for brands and vehicle types. The majority of conversations about cars are being held by two distinct age groups: 18-24 and 35 and above. Overall, the younger group prefers Chevy, Honda and Nissan, while the 35 and above demographic are fans of Toyotas and Fords. The younger generation is also looking at compact and standard models, whereas their older counterparts seem more interested in talking about SUVs and trucks.
Despite the fact that men are dominating the conversation across most major brands and models nearly 4 to 1, Honda fares a little better, with only two-thirds of the dialogue being attributed to men. The models most popular among women are the Chevy Malibu (38%), Nissan Rouge (38%), Chevy Cruze (37%) and Chevy Equinox (36%), while the least popular include the Nissan Frontier (19%) and the Honda Ridgeline (20%).
About the Data:The report is based on Crimson Hexagon’s library of more than one trillion social media posts between 2010 and 2016 across the major social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and popular car-focused forums about the top auto brands in the US. Crimson Hexagon selected the five brands in their study based on a third-party source ranking the top-selling brands in the US in 2016.
