What’s the future economic outlook look like? You can rely on financial analysts, and standard trends. But, how about looking up search engine results to see what users have been researching for future purchases?
Experian Hitwise has released a report on what hybrid vehicle searches can teach us about economic trends and future behavior. With the cost of gas reaching new global highs, the term ‘Prius’ has increased by 200% month-over-month. And other hybrid models have also been trending high recently.
What does this mean? Well, it’s important not to confusion correlation with causation. After all, it’s Springtime. So, that might account for some of it. But gas mileage-related Web searches reached a 12 month high last week, so it’s more than that. So, the data means something. But, what economic suggestions can we take from this? After all, if gas prices are moving upward and people are looking to save money, will they really take the short-term financial plunge of a hybrid for the long-term potential cost savings? I’m not sure search results can tell us that.