The role of involvement in regards to public transit riders' perceptions of the service

Abstract Research on involvement of public transit customers, which can be defined as the level of interest or importance of public transit to a passenger, is scarce and no study has attempted to comprehensively analyze this concept in the public transit sector. Based on behavioral and marketing literature, this paper tests three possible roles of involvement in regards to passengers' perceptions of a Light-Rail Transit (LRT) service in Seville (Spain): the mediator, moderator and antecedent roles. The structural equation modeling approach was used to test the conditions of mediation and moderation in social psychology and to evaluate the theoretical relationships of involvement as an antecedent. A nested model strategy allowed us to compare competing models and a multiple group analysis was conducted to test for moderation. Our results indicate that involvement of public transit users could positively affect their evaluations of the service quality, and enhance their intentions to reuse the service and recommend it to others. Furthermore, involvement could also moderate the direct effect of service quality perceptions of highly involved users on their behavioral intentions. Consequently, higher levels of involvement could lead perceptions of service quality to affect positive behavioral intentions mainly through customer's satisfaction. Furthermore, the level of product hierarchy at which passengers make their decisions to use a transportation mode may affect how they make their evaluations and decisions in regards to that mode. These results lead to important and practical considerations for transportation managers who aim to enhance passengers' intentions to reuse the service and recommend it to others. The insight gained with this paper in regards to the effect of involvement on passengers' perceptions may allow the design of effective marketing strategies that aim to grow transit ridership by increasing the importance of public transit for passengers.

[1]  Muhamad Nazri Borhan,et al.  Predicting the Use of Public Transportation: A Case Study from Putrajaya, Malaysia , 2014, TheScientificWorldJournal.

[2]  Chin-Shan Lu,et al.  Effects of service quality and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in high-speed rail services in Taiwan , 2014 .

[3]  J. Zaichkowsky.  Measuring the Involvement Construct , 1985 .

[4]  Ching-Fu Chen,et al.  Habitual or reasoned? Using the theory of planned behavior, technology acceptance model, and habit to examine switching intentions toward public transit , 2011 .

[5]  Christian Grönroos,et al.  Relationship marketing: The strategy continuum , 1995 .

[6]  Stephen W. Wang.  The moderating effects of involvement with respect to customer relationship management of the airline sector , 2014 .

[7]  K. Ruyter,et al.  Customer Loyalty in High and Low Involvement Service Settings: The Moderating Impact of Positive Emotions , 1999 .

[8]  R. Oliver.  Whence Consumer Loyalty? , 1999 .

[9]  S. O. Olsen.  Repurchase loyalty: The role of involvement and satisfaction , 2007 .

[10]  M. E. Gordon,et al.  Relationship marketing effectiveness: The role of involvement , 1998 .

[11]  Venkatesh Shankar,et al.  Customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, and switching costs: An illustration from a business-to-business service context , 2004 .

[12]  Yu-Chiun Chiou,et al.  Service quality effects on air passenger intentions: a service chain perspective , 2012 .

[13]  M. Capella,et al.  Relationship marketing: the influence of consumer involvement on perceived service benefits , 2006 .

[14]  Ching-Fu Chen.  Investigating structural relationships between service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions for air passengers: Evidence from Taiwan , 2008 .

[15]  Ching-Fu Chen,et al.  Perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty of TV travel product shopping: Involvement as a moderator , 2008, Tourism Management.

[16]  Changwan Kim,et al.  A structural equation analysis of the QSL relationship with passenger riding experience on high speed rail: An empirical study of Taiwan and Korea , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[17]  Kevin Lane Keller.  Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity , 1997 .

[18]  Valerie Webb,et al.  Quantifying the Benefits: Application of Customer Loyalty Modeling in Public Transportation Context , 2010 .

[19]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[20]  Banwari Mittal.  A comparative analysis of four scales of consumer involvement , 1995 .

[21]  Juan de Oña,et al.  Perceived Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions , 2015 .

[22]  Ronald E. Goldsmith,et al.  Identifying Innovators in Consumer Service Markets , 1993 .

[23]  Graham Currie,et al.  Effective ways to grow urban bus markets: a synthesis of evidence , 2007 .

[24]  R. Oliver.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective On The Consumer , 1996 .

[25]  Thomas F. Golob,et al.  Structural Equation Modeling For Travel Behavior Research , 2001 .

[26]  Chien-Hung Wei,et al.  Measuring traveler involvement in urban public transport services: The case of Kaohsiung , 2010 .

[27]  P. A. Dabholkar,et al.  A comprehensive framework for service quality: an investigation of critical conceptual and measurement issues through a longitudinal study , 2000 .

[28]  Juan de Oña,et al.  Quality of Service in Public Transport Based on Customer Satisfaction Surveys: A Review and Assessment of Methodological Approaches , 2015, Transp. Sci..

[29]  Ching-Fu Chen,et al.  Behavioral intentions of public transit passengers--The roles of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement , 2011 .

[30]  Jinhuan Zhao,et al.  Customer Loyalty Differences between Captive and Choice Transit Riders , 2014 .

[31]  Rungting Tu,et al.  Managing passenger behavioral intention: an integrated framework for service quality, satisfaction, perceived value, and switching barriers , 2011 .