Customers' Mode Choice Behaviors of Express Service Based on Latent Class Analysis and Logit Model

Abstract

As the parcel delivery service is booming in China, the competition among express companies intensifies. This paper employed multinomial logit model (MNL) and latent class model (LCM) to investigate customers' express service choice behavior, using data from a SP survey. The attributes and attribute levels that matter most to express customers are identified. Meanwhile, the customers are divided into two segments (penny pincher segment and high-end segment) characterized by their taste heterogeneity. The results indicate that the LCM performs statistically better than MNL in our sample. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the taste heterogeneity, especially for further academic and policy research in freight choice behavior.