Quality and brand loyalty seem to go hand in hand when it comes to choosing car tyres.
This was borne out in the response of 655 motorists in a user experience survey conducted by the Consumer Council on car tyres.
If past experience is something to go, the findings of the survey of this scale is obviously of great value to consumers in the selection of this vital component of a vehicle.
In the survey, 40% of the 521 respondents who had experience in replacing car tyres, cited quality as the reason for selecting the current brand in use.
This was followed by recommendation by salesmen such as the garage, retailer or car agent (38%) and price (33%).
But quality is the single most important reason affecting the chances of the users purchasing the same brand.
For 71% of respondents who opted quality as the reason for their tyre selection, indicated that they intend to choose the same brand for their new tyres.
Whereas only 28.8% who selected their tyres on the recommendation of the salesmen of garage, were prepared to stay with the same brand. 64.4% said they were "not sure" indicating that they were not completely dissatisfied with their current tyres.
In the survey were rated six brands for brand loyalty from consumers. The top performer achieved a high 76.4%, followed by 70.9% in second place and 63.1% in third place.
These high brand-loyalty achievers shared one thing in common: quality is the leading factor for the consumers to continue their patronage.
The survey also estimates the average life of a car tyre on the basis of 315 respondents who had experience in worn tyres and were able to supply information on annual driving mileages, the brand of the last set of tyres, and the length of use of the old tyres.
Based on the information and data, the average life of car tyres was calculated. The result: car tyres could, on average, last over 35,882 km.
Three brands which received the enough numbers of respondents for analysis, were shown their car tyres to have an average life of 32,534 km, 38,568 km and 38,768 km respectively.
For full details, consumers can consult the report in the May issue of CHOICE.
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