Internet, Friends, & Boat Shows: Top Yacht Buying Factors

How and why do boat-buyers decide to buy their dream yacht? Foresight Research, funded by the NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association, conducted a thorough survey of 3,295 boat buyers of new powerboats.

According to the boat-buying survey:

• 84% of boat buyers researched yachts on the Internet.
• 75% of boat buyers received advice from their friends.
• 64% picked-up and read a yachting magazine.
• 57% attended a Boat Show.
• 15% discussed boats on social media web sites, like Facebook and Twitter.

The national survey, conducted with boat buyers that purchased a yacht between January 2009 and August 2010, examined several powerboat segments, from sportfish boats to express cruisers.

The report further supports the obvious: marketing boats and yachts on the Internet is becoming more important, but traditional marketing channels, like boating magazines and boat shows are still very important components of the boat buying process, and of course good, old-fashioned word of mouth advertising plays a major part.