ZIMRIDE MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

SB MEDIA GROUP Angie Fu Edward Nickerson Erica Johnson Matthew Saad

QUESTIONNAIRE
Hometown (City, State): __________________________________ Current school residence: Dorm Downtown SB Isla Vista Goleta Other__________________________ Do you have a car at your school residence? (check no if your car is at your permanent home address) Yes No How do you usually get home for breaks/long weekends? Drive myself Train Bus Plane Carpool Other__________________________

How many people, including yourself, are usually in the car when you go home for breaks/weekends? NA 1 2 3 4 5 If you carpool home for breaks/weekends, are you usually the passenger or driver? Passenger Driver NA How many people usually chip in to help pay the driver for gas when you carpool? NA 1 2 3 4 5 If you do NOT carpool home for breaks/weekends, please check the following reasons why. convenience/flexibility dont know anyones whos going to my destination/hometown dont mind paying for the gas by myself concerned about safety of carpooling other Please indicate your familiarity with the following: Craigslist Rideshare heard of it seen the website used it as a passenger Zimride heard of it seen the website used it as a passenger

used it as a driver

would use again

used it as a driver

would use again

Did you know that Zimride allows you to connect with people on Facebook before carpooling? Yes No

Did you know that Zimride requires a school email address and you can select a UCSB/SBCC network for students only? Yes No How comfortable do you feel about driving home for breaks/long weekends with people who you do not know personally? Uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5 Comfortable How comfortable do you feel about carpooling home for breaks/long weekends with students whose profiles youve seen on Facebook? Uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5 Comfortable How would your parents feel about you carpooling with people from Craigslist? Uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5 Comfortable How would your parents feel about you carpooling with students from Zimride? Uncomfortable 1 2 3 4 5 Comfortable What is the likelihood you would choose to carpool with UCSB/SBCC students rather than strangers? Not Likely 1 2 3 4 5 Likely Please rank from 1-4 which issues would most encourage you to carpool. (1 is most important) ______ Encountering new people ______ Someone to talk to on long rides ______ Reducing gas emissions ______ Saving money ______ Other: _______________________________

Please rank from 1-5 which issues would most negatively impact your carpool experience. (1 is most negative) ______ Passengers who smoke ______ Needy/annoying passengers ______ Awkwardness with strangers ______ Risked personal safety ______ Passengers w/ poor hygiene ______ Other: _______________________________ If you didnt know about Zimride before this study, what is the likelihood that you will visit the website to learn more? Not Likely 1 2 3 4 5 Likely Based on what youve learned about Zimride, how might the service benefit you? Please write your answer in the space below.

RESULTS
Our sample population was selected from the UCSB community at large. 56% of our sample lives in Isla Vista, while 36% represent the freshman population in the dorms. When asked how residents traveled home, nearly half people selected to drive by themselves home, leaving a large market for Zimrides growth among single drivers. In addition, 35% of the sample was already carpooling. This is a positive sign that people can become interested in Zimrides service. The survey revealed two strengths and opportunities for this campaign to seize upon. Surprisingly, student results revealed it only took 1 passenger to make for an adequate carpool. Secondly, when motives for carpooling were questioned, results revealed that that saving money was the most predominant reason for students to carpool. Similarly, most 1 passenger carpools helped split the cost of the ride by nearly 50%. This encourages the point that, students are indeed, willing to pay, so, drivers should interested in using Zimride to save money. be

RESULTS
The survey also revealed three areas of growth that could be capitalized upon as well. First, perspective carpoolers agreed that traditional carpooling can be plain inconvenient. Secondly, personal and predicted parent comfort level tests also revealed that most people are more uncomfortable with strangers than students when traveling. We need to frame carpooling as an activity done with students, through Zimride, rather than with strangers, alone. The third weakness demonstrated that a general lack of knowledge about Zimride exists the brand name exposure is minimal. More specifically, the results revealed Zimrides online awareness is little to none as well.

RESULTS
Students are not aware that it works with Facebook nor that it only connects students with students. In other words, Zimrides biggest weakness is not self-promoting its identity. Zimrides brand name has also been mixed with Zipcar as well.

RAW DATA
Total respondents: 55 Current School Residence Dorms Isla Vista Downtown Goleta Other/univ owned Car 18 38 1 2 2 Why dont you carpool? Convenience 23 Dont know anyone 10 Dont mind paying myself 7 Concerned about safety 1 Other: I live too close/ride motorcycle Familiar with Craigslist? 1 - heard of it 2 - seen the website 3 - used it as passenger 4 - used it as driver 5 - would use again Familiar with Zimride? 1 - heard of it 2 - seen the website 3 - used it as passenger 4 - used it as driver 5 - would use again 31 8 2 0 0

Yes No

30 22

How do you get home? Drive myself Train Carpool Bus Plane # of Passengers in Car One Two Three Four Five If you Carpool Driver Passenger How many people pay $? One Two Three Four Five

27 7 18 0 3

23 2 0 0 0

23 16 7 3 1

Familiar with Facebook connect? Yes 1 No 53 Familiar with Students Only? Yes No

18 36

19 19

21 9 2 2 0

Comfortable carpooling with Strangers? 1 - uncomfortable 16 211 312 4 - 10 5 - very comfortable 4

RAW DATA
Comfortable carpooling with Students? 1 - uncomfortable 5 2 - 7 311 418 5 - very comfortable 12 Comfortable carpooling with Craigslist? 1 - uncomfortable 28 2 - 6 318 4 - 6 5 - very comfortable 3 Parents comfortable with Zimride? 1 - uncomfortable 13 23 3 - 17 415 5 - very comfortable 5 What issues encourage the use of Carpooling? New People 5 Someone to talk to 6 Reducing emissions 7 Saving money 36 What issues discourage the use of Carpooling? Passengers who Smoke 13 Needy Passengers 8 Awkwardness 4 Risked Safety 19 Poor Hygeine 7 Likelihood will learn more about Zimride: 1 - least 14 29 314 48 5 - most 9 Sex Age Male Female 28 27

Age 17 Age 18 Age 19 Age 20 Age 21 Age 22

0 4 6 9 19 4

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT ZIMRIDE?

Zimride...is that like the car rental thing? 4TH YEAR, COMMUNICATIONS I need a ride home this weekend, do you know anyone going to the Bay? 4TH YEAR, COMPUTER SCIENCE Never heard of it... 4TH YEAR, BIOCHEMISTRY What a cool idea! 4TH YEAR, COMMUNICATIONS I wish I had know before! 4TH YEAR, COMMUNICATIONS Whos scared of strangers in Santa Barbara? 2ND YEAR, POLITICAL SCIENCE Yeah I see those cars all the time... 1ST YEAR, UNDECLARED Saving money is the most important thing to me. 2ND YEAR, ECONOMICS I definitely would have used it as a 1st or 2nd year before I bought a car. 4TH YEAR, COMMUNICATIONS Im going to use this to go home for spring break. 1ST YEAR, BIOPSYCHOLOGY Looks a lot less shady than rideshare. 1ST YEAR UNDCLARED

POTENTIAL AUDIENCE SEGMENTS TO TARGET:

Students who DONT have cars and... Need to get home for a break/weekend Need to get home and typically use the train or bus Need to get home, typically just ask friends, but arent always successful Need to get to an event/destination (Vegas, Mammoth, concert) Students who DO have cars and... Want to save money on gas by carpooling Are environmentally conscious Like having company while driving Want to meet new people Students who have NEVER heard of Zimride Students who are FAMILIAR but NEVER USED Zimride Students who have ALREADY used Zimride

STATEMENT OF CAMPAIGN GOALS:

Our primary goal is to plan and execute an awareness campaign for Zimride. Our market research revealed that many people have not heard of Zimride, and most have never visited the website. Thus, our campaign will serve to boost Zimrides presence on campus, inform students that the service exists, and show students why its better than competing services and substitutes. Our research suggests that, above all other benefits, we should highlight Zimrides UCSB-student-only network, as well as its ability to save students money. While our target market is all UCSB students, we will position our messages toward what we think is the most valuable target market - first and second year students who do not own cars and will remain at UCSB for several years to come.

In order to resonate with our target audience, our marketing needs to be clear, concise, and

consistent. Given the nature of carpooling, humor is likely to be an effective approach to attract attention and promote message retention. A time/dollar-amount comparison of Zimride to its substitutes would also be effective in highlighting Zimrides advantages. Therefore, our tone will be informational but not authoritative, as we are students marketing to students. Our creative work will be consistent with Zimrides current branding, and will be crafted to look as professional and credible as possible while still grabbing the attention of our target audience.