How can car dealerships use targeted advertising to reach customers more efficiently? : the case of the car dealership Askja

• Main Author: Íris Hildur Birgisdóttir 1990-
• Other Authors: Háskólinn í Reykjavík
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Markaðsfræði; Meistaraprófsritgerðir; Bílasölur; Marketing; Automobiles; Askja; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/31223

The objective of this research is to find out how car dealerships can improve their targeted marketing methods to better reach potential customers. This is the case of the car dealership Askja, which is the official car dealership of Mercedes-Benz and Kia Motors in Iceland. Two studies were conducted to understand how targeting should be done within car dealerships. The first study was qualitative and the second was a quantitative experimental study. In the qualitative part of this research six experienced individuals from various marketing/advertising companies were interviewed using in-depth semi-structured interviews to gain insights into how targeting should be done. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed through descriptive analysis. In the experimental part of this research three advertising campaigns were created through the Facebook Business page of Kia in Iceland, which Askja owns, to study the impact of targeted advertisements. All three campaigns were for the Kia Sorento, a well-equipped and elaborate SUV. The results from the qualitative research showed that most of the respondents who were interviewed thought that car dealerships were not doing very well when it came to targeted advertisements and that there was definitely room for improvements. One of the most important things that respondents recommended car dealerships could do to improve their targeted advertisements was to establish systematic retargeting methods. Results from the quantitative study showed that targeting broad audiences worked well to get a good reach of people. However, in later steps of the advertising experiment the targeting was narrowed and it did not lead to the end goal, which was to get people to order a test drive online.