The red Tesla Roadster’s surprise appearance at the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch last week substantially increased talk about the car brand, but didn’t budge potential sales metrics, according to YouGov BrandIndex.
Tesla’s Word of Mouth score started rising several days before SpaceX’s liftoff, when 7% of Americans aged 18 and over said they spoke about the car brand with family or friends in the past two weeks. By the launch date, February 6, that percentage increased to 9%, and by this past Sunday, it climbed another four percentage points to 13%.
Three other metrics rose for Tesla, but to smaller degrees: Impression (“Do you have a positive or negative impression of this car maker?”), Quality (“Does this car maker represent good or poor quality?”), and Buzz ("If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news, or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?").
Tesla’s Word of Mouth surge, however, barely moved its Purchase Consideration score, a meter for potential sales. Purchase Consideration actually dropped one percentage point following the SpaceX launch – from 9% of consumers reporting that they’d consider buying a Tesla when next shopping for a car to 8% – before climbing back to pre-launch numbers.
Photo: Getty
