As I twitter away the hours of my dull day, many things occur to me. Today I was contemplating the answer to a question that seems not to bother people who should put a modicum of thought into the answer. “Why do people read automotive reviews?”(Why they are written is a tale for another day, and trust me, I will tell it.)

One thing I am absolutely sure of is I know what the wrong answer is.  No one reads them to aid in their car buying decisions.  Seriously, I asked almost eleven people if they had ever relied on a review in their car buying: eight of them said no, the other two were under six, neither read well, but both have fetching electric Jeeps.

Point blank, I am stating here that I almost never read reviews unless the author asks me to, or another individual thinks I will get a kick out of it.  If I want a new car, I will let television tell me what I should buy.  More likely, I will let my wife decide what to get.

But why then, I asked myself? Why do people read these print articles/web gems/blog posts? The easy answer is because they love all things automotive and have a pathological need to devour every word written about internal combustion engine powered vehicles.

Some readers may be haters looking for that little nugget that they can bandy about.  Or is it for pure entertainment? Or is it for validation of the purchase that they already made? Maybe some of us just have a thing for hyperbole.  Others I think are addicted to knowing of that which they will never own.  Perchance there is even a Canadian or two out there who read them just to critique the grammar.

I really would love to know why from some of you people out there on the interwebs read these reviews!!

Almost as important, do people really digest the information the reviewers are relaying, or are the masses no more than skimmers? Should journalists and bloggers write a la CliffsNote style by using more bullets? Maybe overlay highlights on the good bits to save the public’s time?  Perhaps universities should begin journalistic hyperbole workshops? Who knows?

Filed under: Editorial

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