AEA Study: Auto Shows Are the No. 1 Influence on Vehicle Purchase Decisions

The Automotive Experience Alliance (AEA) has released consumer insights from the 2025–26 auto show season, drawn from 11,986 attendees across 16 member shows nationwide. The research, conducted in partnership with Productions Plus Insights, reveals that auto show influence on purchase decisions has risen to 82%—up from 78% the prior season—even as the automotive industry’s marketing investment continues to migrate toward digital channels, according to company officials in a press release.

A selection of standout findings from the research is highlighted below. To view the full survey findings, visit automotiveexperiencealliance.org.

Auto Shows Beat Every Digital Channel

The 2025–26 data positions auto shows not as a legacy marketing channel, but as the industry’s highest-performing consumer touchpoint. When asked what impacts vehicle choice most, attendees ranked the auto show visit first, ahead of every digital and traditional media channel combined:

• Auto show visit: 30% name it their No. 1 purchase influence, up from 25% the prior season
• Friends and family: 18%
• News and articles: 13%
• Social media: 7%
• TV, radio and print advertising: 6%

“Auto shows are consistently underestimated as a marketing channel—and consistently over-performing. This data shows that when consumers step onto a show floor, something happens that a 30-second digital ad or a social post simply cannot replicate. They engage, they compare, they decide. The auto show isn’t competing with digital marketing. It’s completing it,” said Jennifer Morand, chairperson, AEA.

Half of Attendees Change Their Mind at the Show

AEA says that one of the most strategically significant findings in this year’s research is that 50% of auto show attendees alter their brand consideration list as a direct result of attending:

• 36% add a new brand to their consideration list after experiencing it at the show
• 14% remove brands from their list specifically because those brands were not present
• 44% of all attendees are in-market shoppers planning to purchase within 12 months
• 82% say their show experience influenced their vehicle purchase decision, up from 78% the prior season

“Absence at an auto show isn’t neutral. Our data makes clear that brands not present don’t just miss upside; they lose share. In a market where conquest is increasingly the growth lever, showing up at scale, in-market, in front of engaged buyers, is table stakes,” added Morand.

Auto Shows Are Accelerating EV Knowledge & Consideration

In the context of a stalled national EV adoption narrative, one of the most surprising findings in this year’s research involves electric vehicles, the company said. Only 14% of attendees arrived with the primary goal of learning about EV or hybrid options, but 51% left with stronger or reinforced knowledge about electric vehicles.

Auto show attendance also produced meaningful lifts in electrification consideration:

• +37% increase in hybrid vehicle consideration after attending
• +20% increase in fully electric vehicle consideration after attending
• +16% increase in plug-in hybrid consideration after attending

“Nobody goes to an auto show to be converted to an EV. They go to kick tires, compare models, and spend a few hours doing something they enjoy. And yet our data shows that more than half leave with meaningfully stronger knowledge and consideration for electrified vehicles. That’s not accidental. That’s what happens when you replace advertising with experience,” said Morand.

Live Drive Activations – The Multiplier Effect

Attendees who participate in live drive or ride-and-drive experiences show dramatically higher purchase intent, brand consideration lift, and engagement compared to non-participants, according to the study:

• 88% of drive participants say the show influenced their purchase decision (vs. 82% overall)
• 48% plan to purchase within 12 months (vs. 44% overall)
• 50% add a new brand to their consideration set after a drive experience (vs. 36% overall)
• Shows with ride-and-drives generate 2.9 hours of average dwell time, a full hour more than shows without
• +28 points more likely to name the auto show as their No. 1 purchase influence vs. non-participants