Unlike previous generations of tire buyers, Millennials don't have much brand loyalty and don't generally have strong relationships with brick-and-mortar dealers, Messrs. Evankovich and Martin said.
For them, tires are usually an "uh-oh" purchase, and the day they buy tires is not a happy day for them, they said. When they buy tires, Millennials' needs are simple, they said — they want it all, they want it cheap, and they want it now.
Although Millennials don't usually know much about tires, the speakers said, they can find out a great deal about them online, within seconds.
This is why tire dealers have to be up to date technologically and able to give Millennials all the information they need exactly when they need it, they said.
Mr. Martin quoted Buckminster Fuller's theory about "The Age of Acceleration." According to that theory, he said, the sum of human knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years.
But by World War II, the pace had doubled to every 25 years, and it has been expanding exponentially ever since, according to Mr. Martin.
"Knowledge will soon be doubling every 12 months, and soon after that every 12 hours," he said.
"It took 18 years for 50 million people to have radios, and 13 years for 50 million people to have televisions," Mr. Martin said. "Pokémon Go had 310 million followers a week after it was introduced."
