Crowd Logistics’ Impact on Environmental Sustainability in a Developing Economy: An Analysis in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose: With the recent emergence of crowd logistics as a form of delivery that involves ordinary citizens rather than skilled couriers, understanding its environmental impact has become an area of concern in most researches. The concept behind crowd logistics is to make use of empty spaces of private individuals who are on an intended trip. The use of empty spaces decreases the number of empty kilometers on the road, lowering emissions and it's thought to ensure environmental sustainability. This article presents the analysis of crowd logistics from an environmental sustainability perspective with much focus on the crowd's behavior. Methods: Survey data from 222 respondents representing various stakeholders was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 software and IBM AMOS version 24.0 for Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis to delve deeper into crowd logistics' environmental effects. Findings: The findings indicate crowd logistics positively impacts the environment but efficient participation of the crowd is critical in achieving that. Implication: Our findings complement existing literature by providing insight on the role of the crowd in the practice of crowd logistics to achieve environmental sustainability. Policymakers can use this to make policies that ensure efficient transport behavior from the crowd in order to achieve environmental sustainability.