The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has several vehicle safety evaluation programs that it maintains for consumer information. The test results are announced in news releases throughout the year and are made available on the IIHS website. Understanding how the public uses the site could help IIHS, other consumer groups, and automakers identify ways to be more effective in how they communicate vehicle safety information.

Two types of analyses were conducted using Google Analytics web traffic data for the IIHS vehicle ratings pages. First, the traffic for every individual vehicle model webpage during the 2015 calendar year was compiled and linked to 2015 sales data. A nonlinear regression was used to model the relationship between pageviews and sales, allowing the level of interest in the safety ratings of vehicles with different sales volumes to be compared. Differences between vehicle make and class also were examined.

The second type of analysis explored the effect of the three news releases that generated the most web traffic between January 2015 and June 2016. These were releases of midsize car headlight ratings, the initial announcement of 2016 Top Safety Pick (TSP) awards, and the release of seven new midsize SUV small overlap crash ratings. Pageview counts were collected for five one-week intervals beginning with the day of the news release and were compared to the one-week period immediately preceding the release.

Volvo, BMW, Mazda, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda all had at least 50 percent more pageviews than predicted based on sales volume alone, while GMC, Scion, Chrysler, Lincoln, and Dodge all had at least 50 percent less than expected. Midsize luxury cars and small SUVs had the highest ratios of actual pageviews to predicted, while pickups had the smallest.

There were increases in web traffic for almost all ratings pages the week following a news release, even for vehicle models which were not a part of the release. However, only vehicles with ratings included in the news release tended to have more views beyond the second week, with the TSP and midsize SUV small overlap releases having the largest effect after five weeks. There was not a consistent trend in the size of the effect for a vehicle based on the rating (Good/Acceptable/Marginal/Poor) or level of award (TSP or TSP+). However, vehicles that lost their 2015 TSP status had an average of 16 percent fewer pageviews after 5 weeks.

Safety-conscious consumers may not be considering certain vehicles based on their make and/or class. While the reasons for this aren’t fully known, it is possible that increased safety-oriented marketing could help, especially in the few weeks after a news release when there is greater awareness of the IIHS ratings. Maintaining a TSP award from one model year to the next is an important factor in sustaining interest on the site.