Internet car buyers are scrutinized

DALLAS, June 5 (UPI) -- U.S. consumer scientists have conducted one of the first studies detailing how car purchasing has changed since the advent of the Internet.

The investigators found online research has largely supplanted time spent at a dealership.

"We confirm that consumers who use the Internet appear to come to the dealer armed with better information, and that users of objective print information appear to migrate to the online version of these sources," said Brian Ratchford of the University of Texas-Dallas, Debabrata Talukdar of the University of Buffalo, and Myung-Soo Lee of Baruch College. "These results are consistent with the common expectation that buyers use the Internet to come to the dealer armed with price information, ready to negotiate a better buy," the researchers said.

Specifically, the study found buyers who used the Internet spent an average of 80 minutes less at car dealerships during the course of their search for a car. They also spent a total of 25 minutes less negotiating prices and on test drives.

The study is detailed in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.