Pressuring Americans to inflate their tires
More than 25% of US automobiles have underinflated tires. We are burning gas, wasting money, and putting ourselves at higher risks for accidents. How would you convince people to inflate their tires? I present the facts and the possible angles and ask you to weigh in.
Two weeks ago, our business class was assigned the task of creating a social marketing campaign. Social marketing campaigns use advertising to convince people to take actions that benefit society. While other students focused on campaigns to encourage condom use and eating healthy, I stayed true to my environmental roots and chose the sexy topic of tire inflation. I designed a campaign to persuade drivers to conduct monthly tire pressure checks. In doing my research, I discovered that this was a topic that Obama and McCain battled over during their campaign for the presidency (see video).
My research (here, here and here) revealed the following facts:
- More than 25% of US drivers are driving around on underinflated tires
- Fuel economy decreases by 3% for every 10 pounds of pressure tires are underinflated
- 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline could be saved if US drivers inflated their tires properly
- 0.8% of highway accidents and fatalities have been linked to underinflated tires
- Underinflated tires wear out faster and thus shorten the life of tires
- A Canada study revealed that most people don't know what tire pressure they should inflate their tires to and don't see tire checks as a part of routine maintenance
Knowing these facts, now how would we change this behavior? I identified three angles you can take to convince others of the value of tire pressure checks.
Economics: Save money by both reducing gas consumption and extending the life of your tires
Environment: Inflating tires wastes less gas and reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and foreign imports.
Safety: You are at less risk of having an accident if your tires are properly inflated.
What would you respond to? What message do you think has the most impact? How would you effectively reach your audience? I would love to hear your feedback.
Be creative. Some campaigns that I like are Denver
Water's water conservation campaign and the American Legacy Foundation tobacco education campaign.
The cost of air!