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Detailed Ride-Along Impressions for a Global Auto Manufacturer

A global automobile manufacturer was looking to better understand the CUV (crossover utility vehicle) market competitive set, to find out how consumers in the market for a CUV make decisions and what makes them choose one car over another. Typical drive-along studies often take months and cost millions of dollars, and our client was looking for a faster, more cost-effective solution. This was also during a global pandemic, making execution even more difficult.

What we did:

The Big Village Digital Hives Online Communities team started by recruiting 100 people that were actively in the market for a CUV, planning to purchase in the next 6 months. We ran a 3-day Hive, and asked participants a series of questions about what was in their consideration set when purchasing a CUV and why. We then split up the participants into multiple groups and asked them to test drive both our client’s CUV, as well as one of their competitors’ CUVs. Since this was during COVID, participants took each car for a test drive by themselves, without a salesperson with them. During their test drive, we asked them to pull over and take a video of the car while they narrated their impressions of the vehicle: likes, dislikes, drive experience, etc.

Back in the Hive, the members uploaded their two videos and then answered detailed questions comparing their experience of the two vehicles, if the test drive changed their consideration set and/or vehicles/features of interest, and how they felt after the test drive. This whole process took only 3 weeks from start to finish.

The result:

After presenting our report to the client, they were blown away with the insights we were able to provide. They were also thrilled that this was completed for a fraction of the cost—and in a fraction of the time—it would typically take to get detailed 1:1 ride-along impressions. Our client was able to take our insights and make smarter business decisions as they navigate the CUV market.