Cycles of all sorts

Marketing: The public image of cycling

An individual's perception of cycling and their expectations of how they might be perceived if they are seen cycling can affect their decision to cycle or not. Thus cycling might be marketed positively by interests that wish to promote it. Alternatively, other interests might seek to market cycling negatively for their own purposes. Thus interests from the car lobby may seek to belittle cyclists in an attempt to enhance their own status as motorists. As with other areas of competition a marketing or propaganda conflict takes place between both sides.

Negative marketing of cycling

Various interests may wish to portray a negative image of cycling for equally various reasons. In some cases governments may wish to promote private car use and may distribute publicity designed to encourage motoring and discourage cycling. Official road safety organisations may also promote literature and publicity that deliberately focuses on the dangers of cycling while playing down or neglecting the dangers posed to cyclists by other road users. Some road safety authorities have been accused of having a deliberate policy of discouraging cycling as a means of reducing road casualty statistics. The car industry's marketing efforts frequently try to associate car use with a perception of increased social status. The flip side of this tactic implies efforts to portray alternative transport modes, such as cycling, as indicators of reduced social status and/or poverty.

Most controversially, negative images may also be promoted by people who claim to be representing the interests of cyclists. Promoters of bicycle helmets may seek to ridicule cyclists who choose not to use them and are frequently accused of significantly overstating and exaggerating both the risks posed to cyclists and the protective benefits of helmets. Similar accusations have been made against some proponents of segregated cycle facilities again the risks experienced by cyclists are alleged to have been overstated and deliberately exaggerated. Simultaneously it may be alleged that the safety impacts of cycle facilities have been overstated and/or misrepresented. The accusation has been made that the object is to impose on the public mind, the perception that cycling is too "dangerous" or "impossible" to do unless cycle facilities are provided first.

Positive marketing of cycling

Two themes predominate in cycling promotion 1) the benefits for the cyclist and 2) the benefits for society and the environment that may occur if more people choose to cycle. The benefits for the cyclist tend to focus issues like reduced journey times in congested urban conditions and the health benefits which the cyclist obtains through regular exercise. Societal benefits focus on general environmental and public health issues. Promotional messages and tactics may include:

• financial savings on transportation
• keeping travel times predictable; in peak traffic, cycling can be the most efficient system of moving around town
• ensuring best use of the space available (during trips and also while parked), therefore reducing congestion on the roads
• lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease (when practised for more than a quarter of an hour a day at a moderate pace) and therefore improvement of individual and public health
• using cycling to tackle the obesity crisis facing more and more countries
• the financial savings for society if general health improves
• reminding people of the advantages in terms of health and of effectiveness of using the bicycle
• making maps of journeys that can be completed by bicycle
• potential reduction of harmful emissions by fewer people driving motor vehicles
• reducing demand for oil-based fuels
• the safety in numbers effect if more people cycle
• Fun!