US Motorcycle Riders
Delivered August 30, 2019. Contributor: Alexis Z.
Goals
In order to inform a business pitch to a luxury motorcycle client, provide a demographic profile of motorcycle riders within the US, a customer journey for purchasing a new motorcycle, the motivations of motorcycle riders and potential new audiences, and a competitive analysis of top motorcycle companies (focusing on customer perceptions).
Early Findings
Demographics
- The median age of US riders in 2018 was 50, an increase from 25 in 2012, showing a general trend of US riders getting older.
- Most riders are married, employed, and make around $62,500 per year.
- In 2018, there was an increase of college-educated riders and female riders within the US.
Motivations & Potential Audiences
- One potential way to attract new customers is by designing products for and focusing on the sustainability and ecofriendly aspects of motorcycle riding as a mode of everyday transport. This is especially attractive to younger, urban consumers.
- Common motivations for riding cited by current motorcycle riders are: the speed, the camaraderie, the "freedom of the open road," and "the joy of becoming one with [the] machine."
Competitive Analysis
Customer Journey
- One barrier that prevents people from buying motorcycles is the perceived danger of riding.
- Some things customers consider when buying a motorcycle is the type of bike to buy, whether to buy new or used, price, and weight and seat height of the bike.
Proposed next steps:
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As the initial research was only able to provide a small portion of the available information on demographics of motorcycle riders in the US and potential audiences & motivations for motorcycle riding, we recommend continuing the research on these two topic. For the demographic analysis, we will focus on providing details on age, gender, income, marital status, employment, and location for US motorcycle riders, and will highlight any recent changes in these demographic points as available. We will also provide a list of 2-3 potential new audiences in the US for motorcycles, with an explanation for each as to why they are a good potential audience. Additionally, we will provide 2-3 motivations for motorcycle riders within the US.
We can also provide a competitive analysis of the US motorcycle brands identified above (Harley Davidson, Honda, Polaris, Yamaha, Sym, Royal Enfield, KTM and Triumph) with a focus on the consumer perception of these brands within the US. For each company we will identify their target market, their products (types of bikes), their competitive advantage within the market and the consumer perception of the brand.
Finally, we can provide a more detailed customer journey for purchasing a motorcycle in the US, including barriers to purchasing and what finally convinces customers to purchase a motorcycle. This will focus less on buying a specific brand of motorcycle, although we will attempt to identify what factors customers consider, but more on why they choose to buy a motorcycle over another form of transportation.