As the automotive industry tightens its belt and marketing budgets are being slashed, automakers and their agencies are being forced to question the value of every penny spent. We've already seen some manufacturers abandon or scale back auto show participation at Los Angeles and Detroit. Is this a good decision? According to a recent consumer survey from by Foresight Research, auto shows are still of great value to automakers, delivering better return on investment than many other forms of marketing.

According to the survey, one out of four new vehicle buyers said they attended at least one auto show in a 12-month period prior to purchasing their vehicle, and among all buyers 10% said that the auto show had a significant influence on their purchase. The survey also showed that most often, auto shows impact buyers early on in the shopping process: Fifty-one percent indicated that the auto show influenced their interest in a brand or type of vehicle; Thirty-nine percent said it influenced their decision to shop at dealerships for that vehicle and 19% said the auto show influenced their final purchase decision.