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

Survey Objectives include Collection of 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

The Survey is Being Conducted in Five Languages: 1.English 2.Spanish 3.Mandarin 4.Vietnamese 5.Tagalog

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

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.

Key Demographics (cont’d.) The oldest respondent was born in 1913 and the youngest was born in The median birth year was % had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Key Demographics (cont’d.) 85.1% of respondents said they have Internet access. 89.5% said they or their family recycle on a regular basis.

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: 1.Auto clubs (74.4%) 2.Auto insurance company (72.5%) 3.Brochures at tire shops (71.9%) 4.DMV mailings (71.9%) 5.“Consumer Reports” (68.0%) 6.TV (64%) 7.Billboards (60.6%) 8.Newspaper ads (59.1%)

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. 1.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. 2.Only 33.0% of drivers identified the correct sources of information for proper tire inflation. 3.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.

Conclusions (cont’d.) 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 rated as most important for their tire purchases: 1.Tire manufacturers 2.Tire stores 3.TV news segments 4.Personal mechanics 5.“Consumer Reports”

Conclusions (cont’d.) 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.

Conclusions (cont’d.) 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.

Conclusions (cont’d.) Tire consumers clearly identified the best information outlets for providing them information about tires and tire safety: 1.Auto clubs 2.Auto insurance companies 3.Brochures at tire shops 4.DMV mailings 5.“Consumer Reports” 6.TV 7.Billboards 8.Newspaper ads