The Role of Smart Travel Service in Intercity Travel Satisfaction: Does Traveler Heterogeneity Matter?

Zhi Dong (), Jiaqi Zhang, Xiaoqi Gong () and Laijun Wang
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Zhi Dong: School of Transportation Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Jiaqi Zhang: School of Transportation Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Xiaoqi Gong: Ningbo Geely Royal Engine Components Co., Ltd., Ningbo 315300, China
Laijun Wang: School of Transportation Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: With the increasing intercity communications and the widespread application of smart travel technologies, it is of great significance to understand the mechanism of how the attributes of smart travel service affect the travel satisfaction among intercity travelers and the potential heterogeneity. This paper establishes a conceptual model with hypotheses from two paths: smart travel service and smart travel experience. Based on the intercity travel survey data of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration in China, a latent class structural equation model is employed to divide the samples into “cold”, “rational”, and “enthusiastic” potential groups based on the use and attitude of smart travel services. From the model estimation results, this study confirms that smart travel service and travel experience satisfaction have significant positive impacts on the overall intercity travel satisfaction of travelers. However, the impact of smart travel satisfaction varies due to group heterogeneity. For the “cold” group, the impact of smart travel service satisfaction on the overall satisfaction of intercity travel is not significant, and smart travel service satisfaction only has a significant impact on the smart travel experience satisfaction of “enthusiastic” travelers. This study puts forward the importance of enhancing the quality of smart travel services and promoting travel experience through smart travel technologies and proposes measures for different groups from the perspective of market segmentation, which provides theoretical and practical value for the promotion of sustainable development of intercity transportation.

Keywords: intercity travel; smart travel technology; impact mechanism; satisfaction; heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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