Readiness of Indian consumers towards the adoption of shared mobility

Abstract

Public perceptions on shared mobility has substantially altered human mindsets in current times, gaining widespread popularity, particularly in the context of emerging economies struggling with increasing population density and shrinking infrastructure resources. The purpose of this study is to examine Indian consumers’ readiness towards the adoption of such shared mobility services in metropolitan cities. An online survey questionnaire was implemented to understand consumers’ readiness to adopt, commuting habits, perceived benefits, and challenges while consuming these services. A total of n=257 usable responses received from randomly selected consumers from 5 metro cities in India were critically analyzed for statistical significances. Findings suggest that in terms of readiness to adopt the consumers are showing a willingness to use shared mode of transport, major perceived key benefits are “cost”, “convenience” and “environmentally less polluting” while prominent challenges are “quality of service” and “customer satisfaction” when consumers engage with shared mobility services. Our study results will benefit public/private transport operators, policymakers, government agencies, and shared mobility consumers towards adoption, management, harnessing, and optimizing the potential benefits achieved through shared mobility strategies. The researchers propose an empirical exploration of consumers’ readiness to include multiple perception variables encompassing users from wider geographical contexts for gaining deeper insights into shared mobility adoption patterns as future research directions.