How do Internet Users Rate Cars Based on Fuel Efficiency?, 9-3-2008
Expert System, leading provider of semantic software that discovers, classifies and interprets text information, today announces the results of a six-month study developed to find which auto models are the most fuel-efficient.
Online consumer comments were analyzed and divided into two categories: luxury and non-luxury vehicles. Of those categories, BMW was rated the most fuel-efficient luxury brand and Ford was rated the most fuel-efficient non-luxury brand.
Starting March 1, 2008 and ending August 31, 2008, Expert System examined reader comments and messages on the Web sites: Automotive.com, CarandDriver.com, Carforum.com, and Carspace.com.
Only reader’s opinions related to fuel efficiency were analyzed, not manufacturers’ specifications for the vehicles.
The luxury vehicles with the highest ratings of fuel efficiency, ranging from the highest score on, are: BMW, Lexus, Acura, Jeep, and Infiniti.
The non-luxury vehicles with the highest ratings are: Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Chevrolet, and Honda.
The auto brands were classified based on their sales prices. Using semantic search and analysis, Expert System was able to find true consumer sentiment without confusion around the intended use of the words (e.g. “gas” as in pedal and “gas” as in fuel) or if complex statements were positive versus negative (e.g. “For a lousy car, the gas mileage is pretty good.”).
With a network of more than 350,000 definitions, 2.8 million word relationships, and 3,500 linguistic rules, Expert System detects actual, granular consumer opinion in the most unstructured places such as blogs and message boards. This is the most accurate approach to identifying purchase trends and developing fads.
“Every American is feeling the pain at the pump and is looking for some honest feedback on how to find relief,” said J. Brooke Aker, CEO of Expert System’s U.S subsidiary. “Motorists are sharing solutions with each other online—you just have to know where to find them. Semantic intelligence allows us to see genuine opinions of what consumers really want and how they think so businesses can make smarter decisions.”
