Sharing is CARing The Influence of Framing on Young Adults’ Intention to Use Carsharing
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2022-07-27
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en
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Abstract
Carsharing contributes to a sustainable development of the transport system by reducing car
ownership. Expanding the user base is necessary to achieve meaningful change, and young
adults have the potential to represent a larger share of carsharing users in the future.
Therefore, this study aimed at exploring psychological predictors of the intention to use
carsharing (i.e. perceived economic benefits, perceived convenience, and perceived
sustainability). Results indicated that perceived convenience and perceived economic benefits
significantly predicted the intention to use carsharing, whereas perceived sustainability did
not. Further, it was examined how framing benefits of carsharing influences young adults’
intention to use carsharing. For this, 244 young adults participated in an online experiment
and were randomly assigned to one of three framing conditions (i.e. gain, hedonic and
normative) or a control group. The group in which financial benefits were communicated (i.e.
gain) showed the highest intention to use carsharing, statistically significantly different from
the control group. The other two framing groups, in which convenience (i.e. hedonic) and
sustainability (i.e. normative) were framed, were not statistically significantly different from
the control group. This suggests that framing the financial benefits of carsharing by providing
information about the total cost of car ownership seems most promising for promoting
carsharing among young adults. Consequently, policymakers may inform the public about the
high costs of car ownership and clarify that carsharing can be more economical for many
citizens.
Keywords: Carsharing, young adults, sustainability, goal-framing.
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen