The Determinants to Promote College Students’ Use of Car-Sharing: An Empirical Study at Dalian Maritime University, China

Abstract

Sustaining the development of car-sharing is considered an efficient way to counter environmental issues worldwide. Against this background, college students are recognized as a promising customer group of car-sharing service providers in China. However, the determinants that promote students’ willingness to use car-sharing services are rarely studied, and the uniqueness of college students in China in the context of car-sharing is justified. Therefore, this paper examines the key factors that affect Chinese college students’ adoption of car-sharing. An empirical study using samples from Dalian Maritime University was conducted, and survey data were collected via the Internet. Specifically, respondents’ socio-demographics were obtained, and their latent attitudes on car-sharing services were measured in terms of willingness to use car-sharing services, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and safety concerns. In addition, nine hypothetical travel scenarios were defined, and regarding each travel scenario, the respondents were asked to state whether they were willing or not to use car-sharing services. On this basis, a hybrid logit model was established to investigate the key factors that influenced the willingness to use car-sharing services. Aside from the common findings in line with previous studies, the results indicate that with the increase in the number of travel fellows, willingness to use car-sharing services went up. Furthermore, college students’ willingness to use car-sharing services was significantly affected by money costs rather than time costs. Additionally, college students in China are more likely to use car-sharing services during workday off-peak hours and weekends. Separately, among the respondents’ latent attitudes, only the perceived usefulness of car-sharing services was found to have a significant and positive impact on students’ willingness to use them. Relevant policy implications with regards to theoretical findings are also offered in this paper to car-sharing service providers in China.

Factors Influencing University Students’ Behavioral Intention to Use Electric Car-Sharing Services in Guangzhou, China

“…Firstly, university students may have different attitudes and preferences toward transportation modes compared to the general population, which may affect the importance of SI in shaping their behavior. For instance, university students may prioritize factors such as cost, convenience, and flexibility over social norms or peer pressure when making transportation choices (Sun et al, 2021). Secondly, the social networks and reference groups of university students may not be strong enough to influence their behavior regarding ECS.…”

“…Following established research methodologies, all survey participants received comprehensive instructions on completing the questionnaire, accompanied by a detailed explanation of the one-way ECS model. In this model, EVs can be retrieved and returned to various locations within a specified operational area, rendering them highly suitable for one-way trips (Cheng et al, 2018;Jin et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2021). To determine the requisite sample size, the G*Power software was employed, guided by the rule of thumb proposed by Harris (2001).…”

“…This study aims to investigate the most influential factors shaping Chinese university students' decision to begin using ECS, which takes into account the unique characteristics of this population, such as their lifestyle, cultural values, and attitudes toward ECS (Curtale et al, 2021;Zhang & Li, 2020). Finally, given the nascent stage of ECS in China, there is plenty of room for improvement in the quality of services, content diversity, applicable laws and regulations, and security guarantees (Sun et al, 2021). Hence, the present study aims to investigate the factors that influence the BI of university students toward using the ECS in Guangzhou, China.…”

“…Li & Zhang, 2023; Zhang & Li, 2020). Finally, given the nascent stage of ECS in China, there is plenty of room for improvement in the quality of services, content diversity, applicable laws and regulations, and security guarantees (Sun et al, 2021). Hence, the present study aims to investigate the factors that influence the BI of university students toward using the ECS in Guangzhou, China.…”

A survey on college students’ cybersecurity awareness and education from the perspective of China

“…The college students' cybersecurity awareness questionnaire was used in this study comprised 32 items, including 25 scale items are used for measuring the four factors of password, usage habit, social media, and education, as established in previous studies (Alqahtani, 2022;Alharbi & Tassaddiq, 2021), they were assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The remaining 7 items pertained to demographic information, such as gender, grade, major, online time, web device, cyber threats, and education status (Sun, 2018). To facilitate a more comprehensive analysis of cybersecurity education, students were classified into three major categories, namely liberal arts (including art and physical education), science and engineering (excluding IT-related majors), and computer science (Xu, Zeng, Wang, & Zhang, 2019).…”