Modeling travel choice behavior with the concept of image: A case study of college students’ choice of homecoming train trips during the Spring Festival travel rush in China

Xiaofeng Pan and Shaobo Liu

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2022, vol. 155, issue C, 247-258

Abstract: This study aims to investigate individuals’ travel choice behavior with the concept of image, which indicates an individual’s perceived reflection of an external object in his/her mind. To this end, college students’ choice of homecoming train trips during the Spring Festival travel rush in China was applied as a case study, in which college students’ perceived image toward high-speed rail was taken into consideration. Specifically, various dimensions of image toward high-speed rail, i.e., stability, safety, speed, comfort, punctuality, food, facility, and staff, were considered. In addition, a stated choice experiment was designed, in which four hypothetical train trips (two conventional and two high-speed train trips) consisted of a choice set. An online survey was carried out, where 2768 valid observations from 346 respondents were collected. Based on the collected data, exploratory factor analysis was first implemented to reduce the dimensionality of perceived image and also to define a set of latent image factors. Then a hybrid choice model was established and estimated. Besides college students’ preferences toward determinants involved in the experiment design, the results did confirm significant effect of perceived image in the travel choice behavior.

Keywords: Perceived image; Psychological factor; Hybrid choice model; Spring Festival travel rush; Case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2021.11.019

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