Why visiting auto shows still matters in the age of social media

IT’S true that you can discover something about an individual just by observing him/her closely. You can see if a person is mild-mannered or uncouth by his actions. One’s body language can even betray what a person wants to convey but cannot.

It was what I decided to busy myself with inside an automotive dealership while my car was undergoing its scheduled preventive maintenance service. I chose a corner in the showroom because I figured that it was an ideal vantage point where I can see all the visitors checking the cars on display.

It didn’t take long for me to notice that while a few would just look at a car and go on to the next, the majority of visitors prefer to touch a car, check the trunk space, open its doors, and even hop in to feel the leather-covered steering wheel and seat surface.

Indeed, touch is probably an unappreciated sense—most people would readily identify the importance of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and then pause before mentioning the sense of touch.

And yet, the sense of touch has been identified by researchers as having the capacity to alter consumer perceptions, even directly compete with visual input.

Despite the fact that we can buy anything and everything on the internet, a huge portion of consumers, especially car buyers, still visit showrooms and attend auto shows to be able to see and touch a vehicle before buying it.

In fact, there is a group of professionals at SEAT, a Spanish auto brand now under the Volkswagen Group, that devoted themselves to studying and perfecting the sensations felt by customers when they touch the interior elements of a car.

That tells us that despite the popularity of the internet many consumers still want to touch a car’s metal surface, its creases, and enjoy the feel of plastic, leather and fabric. After all, should they buy the car, this will be their temporary sanctuary while stuck in say, a two-hour traffic or while taking a 10-hour drive to the countryside.

Indeed, touching and feeling a product are an essential part of shopping, whether it’s clothes or much bigger items like cars.

So, even with images and videos posted on social media, visitors will still keep on flocking to auto shows. Like those auto showroom visitors, people still regard the purchase of a car as special, and an auto show is the best place to see different cars under one roof where they can make assessments and comparisons.

Some believe auto shows are on the decline because we will all be riding self-driving or shared cars within the next few years—a scenario that will make personal car purchasing obsolete. But still, I can boldly say that attendance in auto shows will remain high for years to come.

Though reports have mentioned that attendance this year had dipped in some of the world’s biggest auto shows—Detroit, Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris—we should still expect the market-specific ones like our very own Philippine International Motor Show scheduled on Oct. 24-28 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, to continue to draw in the crowds.

Filipino car buyers are in for a “feast of the senses.” They’ll get to see different car models; hear the latest technology that these cars have to offer; and even grab a bite to satiate that craving triggered by the smell of food that can be had in the venue. And believe me, no one will pass up the chance to touch the cars—feel the shape of the new sheet metal, open the doors, try the seats, and grip the steering wheel while pondering whether it’s going to be a new pickup or a sedan in your garage.