Exploring carsharing usage motives: A hierarchical means-end chain analysis

Tobias Schaefers

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2013, vol. 47, issue C, 69-77

Abstract: Recently, carsharing has entered a phase of commercial mainstreaming as carsharing providers and urban transportation planners aim at broadening the customer base. In this context, knowledge about the motives of carsharing usage is essential for further growth. Based on a qualitative means-end chain analysis this paper therefore explores usage motives, thus expanding the existing insights from analyses of usage behavior. In a series of laddering interviews with users of a US carsharing service, the underlying hierarchical motive structure is uncovered and four motivational patterns are identified: value-seeking, convenience, lifestyle, and environmental motives. Implications are drawn for applying these insights.

Keywords: Carsharing; Consumer behavior; Means-end chain; Qualitative method; Laddering; Cognition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (65)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2012.10.024

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