Consumer Education Marketing Research and Tire Survey Key Findings from the Telephone Survey of California Tire Consumers

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Consumer Education Marketing Research and Tire
SurveyKey Findings from the Telephone Surveyof
California Tire Consumers

• Conducted for
• The California Integrated
• Waste Management Board
• By
• California State University, Chico
• Instructional Media Center
• Program for Applied Research
• and Evaluation

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Survey Objectives include Collectionof Data on
Vehicle Owners'

• Knowledge and behaviors related to tire
  maintenance and safety
• Recent tire purchase information
• Tire purchasing criteria
• Knowledge of tire recycling and disposal
• Familiarity with tire recycling and disposal
  campaigns

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The Survey is Being Conductedin Five Languages

• English
• Spanish
• Mandarin
• Vietnamese
• Tagalog

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Key Demographic Questions included

• Number of years of driving experience
• Number and types of vehicles owned or leased
• Number of miles driven each year
• Highest level of education completed
• Annual household income
• Year of birth
• Internet access
• Recycling by families

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Key Demographics

• The mean (average) number of years of driving
  experience was 28.5 years.
• Most (81.2) owned or leased one or two cars,
  18.2 owned a van, and 39.4 owned a truck.
• The mean (average) number of miles driven per
  year was just over 20,000, with the median
  (middle) number of miles at 12,000.

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Key Demographics (contd.)

• The oldest respondent was born in 1913 and the
  youngest was born in 1984. The median birth year
  was 1956.
• 47.3 had completed a bachelors degree or higher.

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Key Demographics (contd.)

• 85.1 of respondents said they have Internet
  access.
• 89.5 said they or their family recycle on a
  regular basis.

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Best Sources of Information About Tires and Tire
Safety

• When consumers were asked to rate the
  effectiveness of 16 ways to provide them
  information about tires and tire safety, the
  following were the most frequently rated as very
  effective or somewhat effective
• Auto clubs (74.4)
• Auto insurance company (72.5)
• Brochures at tire shops (71.9)
• DMV mailings (71.9)
• Consumer Reports (68.0)
• TV (64)
• Billboards (60.6)
• Newspaper ads (59.1)

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Conclusions

• Though most drivers said they believe that tire
  maintenance, including balancing, rotation and
  alignment are important to the life of their
  tires, the practices of many were inconsistent
  with good tire maintenance practices.
• Most drivers say they check their tires for wear
  and proper inflation, yet many use inaccurate
  methods and complete their inspections monthly or
  less frequently.
• Only 33.0 of drivers identified the correct
  sources of information for proper tire inflation.
• There were several different occasions when
  drivers said they have their tires rotated and
  balanced. These vary from recommendations by
  dealers to occasions when their car shakes or
  pulls in one direction.

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Conclusions (contd.)

• Drivers further demonstrated their concerns for
  tire safety, maintenance and cost by identifying
  tire safety, maintenance and price as their 3
  most important tire purchasing criteria.
• Promising outlets for information on tire
  maintenance would be those that drivers ratedas
  most important for their tire purchases
• Tire manufacturers
• Tire stores
• TV news segments
• Personal mechanics
• Consumer Reports

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Conclusions (contd.)

• Most drivers believe that discarded tires pose a
  risk to the environment and/or public health, yet
  15.3 of the survey respondents said they had one
  or more used, unmounted tires around their
  residence.
• Less than 10 of drivers have disposed of an old
  tire by dropping them off at a collection event.

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Conclusions (contd.)

• 94.5 believe that tires and tire components can
  be recycled or reused, but their knowledge of
  specific uses was very limited.
• Almost half said they would be more likely to
  purchase tires with recycled content, and 27.1
  would be just as likely. This data supports the
  use of recycled components in tires assuming that
  quality, performance, warranty and price are not
  affected.

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Conclusions (contd.)

• Tire consumers clearly identified the best
  information outlets for providing them
  information about tires and tire safety
• Auto clubs
• Auto insurance companies
• Brochures at tire shops
• DMV mailings
• Consumer Reports
• TV
• Billboards
• Newspaper ads