How does purchasing intangible services online influence the travel to consume these services? A focus on a Chinese cont
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How does purchasing intangible services online influence the travel to consume these services? A focus on a Chinese context Kunbo Shi1 · Long Cheng1 · Jonas De Vos1,2 · Yongchun Yang3 · Wanpeng Cao4 · Frank Witlox1,5,6
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract A considerable number of empirical studies have explored the effects of information & communication technologies (ICT) on travel in recent years. In particular, the most attention has been paid to whether the use of ICT increases or decreases trip frequency (i.e., substitution or complementarity effects). However, the subject of whether or how travel distance and mode choice are altered by ICT (i.e., modification effects) has almost been ignored. Against this background, using data collected in Beijing, China, this paper aims to explore how purchasing intangible services (e.g., eating out at restaurants, hairdressing, and visits to zoos and movie theatres) online alters the distance and mode choice of the travel to consume these services. The results suggest that due to online purchases of intangible services, people tend to travel farther to consume these services. Consequently, 25.4% of online buyers change their travel mode choices from walking or cycling (i.e., nonmotorized modes) to public transit, private cars, or taxis (i.e., motorized modes). These findings confirm the existence of modification effects of ICT on travel. Additionally, a stepwise multinomial logistic regression model and a stepwise binomial logistic regression model are used to detect the factors influencing changes in travel distance and mode choices, respectively. The regression outcomes suggest that people who have lower living costs or feel more satisfied with online purchases are more likely to increase their travel distances and to change from nonmotorized modes to motorized modes. Keywords ICT · Online purchases · Intangible services · Travel distance · Travel mode choice · China
* Long Cheng [email protected] 1
Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2
Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London, UK
3
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
4
School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
5
Department of Geography, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
6
College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
13
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Transportation
Introduction Information & communication technologies (ICT), which may profoundly affect travel, have important implications for urban transportation systems (Gössling 2018; Mokhtarian et al. 2006; Wang and Law 2007). In earlier conceptual research, four types of ICT impacts on travel were proposed (Mokhtarian 1990, 2002; Salomon 1985, 1986): (1) substitution—the use of ICT decreases the frequency of travel; (2) complementarity— the use of ICT increases the frequency of travel; (3) modification—the characteristics of travel
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