How to improve users' intentions to continued usage of shared bicycles: A mixed method approach

Wang Zhanyou; Han Dongmei; Zhao Yaopei

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229458

How to improve users' intentions to continued usage of shared bicycles: A mixed method approach

PLoS One. 2020 Feb 24;15(2):e0229458. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229458. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Wang Zhanyou^{1

2}, Han Dongmei³, Zhao Yaopei⁴

Affiliations

¹ Office of Academic Research, Shandong Management University, Jinan, China.
² School of Management Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan, China.
³ School of Information Engineering, Shandong Management University, Jinan, China.
⁴ Party Committee Office, Shandong Management University, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Sharing the use of a bicycle in China has changed people's daily travel modes. Existing studies mainly explored the factors affecting individuals' initial intentions to start using a shared bicycle, but few looked at the likelihood that a user would continue using one. Based on a post-acceptance model of information system (IS) continuance, this investigation proposed a research model to investigate factors influencing riders' intentions to continued usage of shared bikes. Analysis involved structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on data from 376 shared bicycle riders. The results from SEM showed that perceived usefulness, service quality, riders' habits, overall satisfaction and the nature of the weather were the most important factors positively influencing users' intentions to continue bike sharing. The results from fsQCA showed that six combinations of these variables were sufficient to explain continued usage. The conclusions of this study can be useful for operators to improve shared bicycle services.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Behavior
Bicycling* / psychology
Bicycling* / statistics & numerical data
China / epidemiology
Choice Behavior / physiology
Consumer Behavior / statistics & numerical data
Cooperative Behavior*
Female
Humans
Intention*
Male
Probability
Risk-Taking
Socioeconomic Factors
Travel* / psychology
Travel* / statistics & numerical data

Grants and funding

This work is supported by Shandong social science popularization and application research project under project number 2018-SKZZ-31. Social science planning project of Shandong province under project number 16CGLJ21 and 19CDNJ06. Zhanyou Wang received Shandong social science popularization and application research project under project number 2018-SKZZ-31. http://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/Detail.aspx?dbname=CJFDTEMP&filename=GFGB201903009&v=. Xu Yihong received Social science planning project of Shandong province under project number 16CGLJ21. URL: http://gsxy.sdmu.edu.cn/info/1152/1872.htm. Yaopei Zhao received Social science planning project of Shandong province under project number 19CDNJ06. URL: http://kyc.sdmu.edu.cn/info/1008/2227.htm. “The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”