Wonderflow’s Business Intelligence team conducted an original market analysis of the tire industry, including a cross-country comparison. Using our very own advanced natural language processing technology, we’ve uncovered several key trends and insights that tire brands, manufacturers, and marketers can leverage to create effective strategies and improve the consumer experience.
In the world’s most advanced countries, on average, 65% of the population owns a car. Vehicle owners living in the U.S. reach 87%. Most people also drive, on average, about 7,000 kilometers per year. That’s almost a round trip from Alaska to Mexico City! And this number doubles when, again, considering the average American consumer.
The car has become a central way of living, via transportation, for all of us. And with all this, tires play a critical role in ensuring our vehicle’s overall performance, safety, convenience, and driving experience.
Tires, which generally need to be changed every six to seven years, are increasingly high in demand. They are purchased more online, and consumers often discuss them via product reviews.
This article aims to investigate what consumers say online about tires, but more importantly, to investigate the main aspects of interest and differences between countries for tires.
Scope of the VoC Analysis
To answer those key research questions, Wonderflow’s Business Intelligence experts have analyzed more than 65,000 reviews on 140 related products across four different countries:
- Germany
- Italy
- The United Kingdom
- The United States
Our data pool contains a high level of detail, as there are five different top tire brands (Bridgestone, Continental Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli), and we found several tire types that range from Winter SUV to Grand Touring All-Season, and more.
Get the Wheel Turning: Key Insights on the Tire Market
If we look at the tires category overall, we see that the main metrics have good scores, indicating general consumer satisfaction. In fact, both the average Star Rating (⭐️) and the Sentiment Index ( 💜) have a high value, respectively 4.49 out of 5 and 0.72.
This second KPI calculates the ratio between positive and negative comments in a normalized interval that goes from -1 to +1; therefore, a value close to 1, as we have in this case, indicates a much higher proportion of positive comments than negative ones.
Also, when comparing different countries, we appreciate that they all have similar performances, close to the market average, with the U.K. standing out with a slightly higher Star Rating (Figure 1).
But we can also observe some differences. The United States leads the market in consumer engagement by collecting the highest number of tire-related reviews due to its bigger population. However, this country has the worst Sentiment Index, suggesting that, in the U.S., people tend to be more critical.
On the other hand, in countries like Italy and the U.K., the Sentiment Index is higher. Behind these minor differences are motivators that drive people to leave negative comments or low-star ratings. And thanks to our powerful topic analysis, it is possible to understand the exact reason behind consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Below (Figure 2), one can see the top five most mentioned tire-related topics for each country positively and negatively.
At first glance, one may notice that Noise appears in all four rankings. However, depending on the country, the topic means something different and vital to the consumers. Noise on tire products is the most common topic among British, German, and American reviewers. With German and Americans, Noise is negatively mentioned in more than 5% of the comments, indicating the importance of this tire feature among car owners in their respective countries.
Another thing that can be said for Americans is that they generally complain about ‘noisy’ vehicle tires but not about their Vibration, as this aspect collects a small number of negative comments. On the other hand, this topic is much less mentioned by Italians than in other countries, especially negatively.
Tread Life is mentioned by almost one out of five American consumers, and half of them are unhappy about it. This often generates dissatisfaction among American tire buyers, and thus it represents a significant area of improvement.
On the other hand, for British people, performances on wet terrains, and more generally, the Grip, is a crucial topic when judging their purchase online.
Italians are more price sensitive since it is the only market we found with the topic Price in the rankings. So, this tells us that people in Italy are more eager than those in other countries to talk about the product’s cost in online reviews. Also, Italians, followed closely by the Germans, also have the highest propensity to recommend the purchase of products.
At the same time, E-commerce Delivery is a topic positively raved about the most by Germans and Italian tire shoppers. Knowing this may help optimize ad hoc marketing campaigns in these two markets.
For example, since many consumers enjoy sharing their shopping experiences, brands could reward them with prizes or discounts if they recommend the product. This is just an example of how to leverage the voice of the customer (VoC).
Key Takeaways
Thanks to Wonderflow’s advanced VoC analysis, our analysts have identified key differences in tires across four major markets, going beyond a similar overall performance in terms of KPIs and understanding what customers were saying.
To recap, Americans tend to complain more in online tire-related reviews, yet they drive cars the most in terms of time and distance (as proven by the statistics shared earlier). The most discussed topics are not the same in all four examined countries, except for Noise, which is vital to all drivers.
Italians are more price-focused, and with Germans, they appreciate the method of E-commerce Delivery. At the same time, Americans leave a significant amount of negative comments regarding the tread life of tires. British reviewers tend to talk more than others regarding tire performance on wet grounds or lands.
To uphold a competitive advantage, all these tire aspects must be considered by brands when developing or marketing related products in specific markets.
Want to know more about the tires industry or talk with our VoC specialists? Request a free demo now!
