The Determinants to Promote College Students’ Use of Car-Sharing: An Empirical Study at Dalian Maritime University, China

Shichao Sun, Yuanqian Liu, Yukun Yao, Zhengyu Duan and Xiaokun Wang
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Shichao Sun: College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Yuanqian Liu: School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yukun Yao: College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Zhengyu Duan: Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Xiaokun Wang: School of Economics and Management, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian 116028, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: Sustaining the development of car-sharing is considered an efficient way to counter environmental issues worldwide. Against this background, college students are recognized as a promising customer group of car-sharing service providers in China. However, the determinants that promote students’ willingness to use car-sharing services are rarely studied, and the uniqueness of college students in China in the context of car-sharing is justified. Therefore, this paper examines the key factors that affect Chinese college students’ adoption of car-sharing. An empirical study using samples from Dalian Maritime University was conducted, and survey data were collected via the Internet. Specifically, respondents’ socio-demographics were obtained, and their latent attitudes on car-sharing services were measured in terms of willingness to use car-sharing services, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and safety concerns. In addition, nine hypothetical travel scenarios were defined, and regarding each travel scenario, the respondents were asked to state whether they were willing or not to use car-sharing services. On this basis, a hybrid logit model was established to investigate the key factors that influenced the willingness to use car-sharing services. Aside from the common findings in line with previous studies, the results indicate that with the increase in the number of travel fellows, willingness to use car-sharing services went up. Furthermore, college students’ willingness to use car-sharing services was significantly affected by money costs rather than time costs. Additionally, college students in China are more likely to use car-sharing services during workday off-peak hours and weekends. Separately, among the respondents’ latent attitudes, only the perceived usefulness of car-sharing services was found to have a significant and positive impact on students’ willingness to use them. Relevant policy implications with regards to theoretical findings are also offered in this paper to car-sharing service providers in China.

Keywords: car-sharing; influence factors; college students; hybrid choice model; policy implications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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