Measuring Passenger Loyalty to Public Transport Modes
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2015
Subject Area
mode - bus, mode - rail, ridership - mode choice, ridership - behaviour, ridership - modelling, planning - marketing/promotion
Keywords
travel mode choice, loyalty model, a decision-making model, passenger attitudes toward public transport modes, marketing research techniques
Abstract
This paper incorporates insights from relevant consumer behavior research in marketing to travel mode choice by adopting the loyalty model, a decision-making model, to better understand and evaluate passenger attitudes toward public transport modes. This paper describes the loyalty model and demonstrates and validates its use in transportation using a case study of a choice between two modes, rail and bus. Based on factor analysis, two factors from the loyalty model were identified: loyalty, which measures the repeat purchase of the service and the passenger’s attitude toward it; and hedonic commitment, which measures the emotional feeling after using a mode. The full loyalty model was validated for both rail and bus passengers. The research shows that, like other consuming products toward which subjective emotional feelings affect the consumer’s behavior, passenger choice is significantly affected by subjective emotional feelings toward the mode. Additionally, the subjective effect can be measured easily using marketing research techniques.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by National Center for Transit Research, University of South Florida, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Shiftan, Y., Barlach, Y., & Shefer, D. (2015). Measuring Passenger Loyalty to Public Transport Modes. Journal of Public Transportation, 18 (1): 117-132.
