A new study released by the folks at Yahoo! and Compete Inc. shows that search plays an important role in the automotive buying process.

To get the data for the study, the team at Compete Inc. analyzed the behavior of more than two million internet users and then surveyed more than 800 Internet users that researched an automotive purchase.

Key findings include:

• One in five unique automotive visitors arrives at automotive Web sites through search.
• Automotive purchasers depend on search as a valuable research tool.
• Search results influence consumers during the vehicle purchase process.
• Consumers who use search to research vehicle purchases are more engaged.

The study confirms past research that shows that even though a small percentage of searchers (about 8%) end up turning into online customers, a great deal of people do a significant amount of research online before they make a major purchase. That means that if you sell a high-ticket item, you need to make sure that you are aiding your customers in their quest for information by giving them good, solid information on your web site.