Modeling and Analysis of Ticketing Channel Choice for Intercity Bus Passengers: A Case Study in Beijing, China

Abstract

Buses represent the main mode for intercity passenger transportation in China. In recent years, a multichannel ticketing strategy has been widely employed in the bus passenger transportation industry. However, the mechanisms and key drivers of the channels through which bus passengers purchase tickets are underexplored. Thus, the aim of this study is to empirically apply an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) approach to analyze ticketing channel choice behavior and the heterogeneous preferences of bus passengers. The variables incorporated in the model include the socioeconomic characteristics of passengers, trip attributes, and latent attitudes with 12 ordinal indicators. Based on the data of 1800 participants collected from the city of Beijing, China, this study develops a ticketing channel choice ICLV model merging a discrete choice model with a structural equation model. The key factors that affect the channel preference are further discussed through a comparison with a conventional multinomial logit (MNL) model. The results reveal that the three attitudinal variables have a significant influence on ticketing channel choice. Furthermore, this study indicates that perceptual differences exist due to various socioeconomic and trip characteristics. Personal privacy is a major obstacle that prevents passengers from choosing online channels, especially for older passengers and those with lower education.

Factors of customers’ channel choice in an omnichannel environment: a systematic literature review

“…We identified four factors relating to channel convenience within the articles retrieved: perceived ease of use, search-related convenience, rapidity and immediacy, and channel uniformity. Online channels appear particularly convenient at the pre-purchase stage (Sonderegger-Wakolbinger and Stummer 2015 ), and customers value the usability and user-friendliness of online and mobile channels, particularly with regard to price comparison (Boardman and McCormick 2018 ; Singh and Swait 2017 ) and efficiency (Li et al, 2019 ). Mobile channels seem to perform very well in terms of rapidity and immediacy due to the portable and ubiquitous nature of mobile devices (Huang et al 2017 ) and the resulting lack of spatial or temporal constraints on the shopping experience (Kim et al 2019 ; Rodríguez-Torrico et al 2017 ).…”

“…However, no customer chooses digital channels just because she is young. Instead, younger generations that have grown up with digital technologies have greater experience and confidence in their use (Lipowski and Bondos 2018 ); they also tend to perceive fewer risks in online channels (Li et al, 2019 ). As a group, younger customers are more price-conscious and place less emphasis on privacy issues (Madden et al 2017 ), which factors further reduce their focus on perceived online channel risks and create emphasis on needs such as cost avoidance.…”

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Research on the suitability of telework in the context of COVID-19

“…Therefore, it can effectively enhance the fitting effect (Peng and Min, 2020), interpretation, and prediction ability of the selection behavior model (Fu and Zhicai, 2016). It has been widely used in related research on the mode of travel, place of residence (Mahpour et al, 2018), and ticket sales channel selection (Li et al, 2019).…”

“…It has been widely used in related research on the mode of travel, place of residence (Mahpour et al. , 2018), and ticket sales channel selection (Li et al. , 2019).…”