How do Service Quality, Value, Pleasure, and Satisfaction Create Loyalty to Smart Dockless Bike-Sharing Systems?
| Autor | Liu, Yong |
1 Introduction
Under pressure from rapid urbanization and motorization, the urban environment has been deteriorating in China (Tang, Pan, & Fei, 2017) and urban transport plays a principal role in air pollution (International Energy Agency --IEA, 2016). Thus, many modes of green transport, such as bikes, urban rail transit, and electric vehicles, have been proposed to reduce the impacts of conventional urban traffic on the environment (Fishman, Washington, & Haworth, 2012; Zhang, Thomas, Brussel, & Maarseveen, 2017). Of these various forms of green transportation, bike-sharing systems (BSS), which provide self-service and short-distance bike rental services for multi-target people in public places, are considered the most effective form of green transportation (Optimising Bike Sharing in European Cities--OBIS, 2011; Zhang et al., 2017). Thus, there has been rapid development of bike-sharing programs throughout Asia, Europe, and the US in recent years (Shaheen, Guzman, & Zhang, 2010). However, the use of these traditional BSS is still not high for various reasons, such as inconvenient locations, imbalanced capacity of bike stations, damage, and theft (Chen, 2016a; Fishman, Washington, Haworth, & Watson, 2014).
Dockless bike-sharing systems (DBSSs), a smart bike-sharing system integrating advantages of the sharing economy, the internet of things, and bicycle manufacturing (iResearch, 2017), have been springing up across China since June of 2015. Compared with traditional BBS, smart DBSS integrate mobile payment and global positioning system (GPS) tracking, which greatly increases the ease of use and management of DBSS. A user can easily locate a bike and unlock it by scanning its quick response (QR) code via a smartphone app. The bikes can be parked anywhere that allows bike parking. The scale of supply is also not limited by the capacity of the docking station. As a new green traffic mode and commerce mode, smart DBSS have attracted investors and entrepreneurs and have experienced massive growth in numbers in many Chinese cities (ResearchInChina, 2017). Since the second half of 2016, at least 30 firms with more than two million bikes have been involved in this industry (ResearchInChina, 2017). However, the usage rates of smart DBSS are well below the companies' expectations. By the end of 2017, six companies had gone bankrupt because they had not obtained and maintained enough users (YIN, 2017). Thus, it is currently an interesting issue for researchers and practitioners to attempt to understand the factors influencing BSS usage.
Numerous studies have examined the factors associated with bike sharing. Most of the literature focuses on the impact of situational factors on BSS, such as bike fleet size, surrounding built environment, bicycle infrastructure, and weather conditions (Bordagaray, Dell'Olio, Fonzone, & Ibeas, 2016; Shaheen, Zhang, Martin, & Guzman, 2011; Zhao, Deng, & Song, 2014). Some researchers have investigated the effect of demographic factors on BSS, such as gender, age, occupation, and income (Fishman, Washington, Haworth, & Watson, 2015; Guo, Zhou, Wu, & Li, 2017; Winters, Sims-Gould, Franke, & McKay, 2015). Also, several studies have focused on the impact of psychological factors on BSS, such as perceived green value, subjective norms, and environmental trust (Hazen, Overstreet, & Wang, 2015; Chen, 2017; Chen & Lu, 2016). Although these studies have provided useful insights on the sustainable development of traditional BSS, it is unclear whether these factors have the same effect on smart DBSS. It is necessary, therefore, to restudy the factors associated with the latter. In addition, the existing literature focuses mainly on the impact of situational factors on smart DBSS (Shen, Zhang, & Zhao, 2018). Some scholars believe that it is very important to study users' initial intention and continuance intention to use a given transportation tool from the psychological perspective (Chen, 2016a, 2017; Chen & Lu, 2016; Kaplan, Manca, Nielsen, & Prato, 2015). According to iiMedia (2017), the number of users of smart DBSS in China reached 209 million in 2017. Thus, it is critical to understand the factors that affect these users' continued usage intentions in the context of smart DBSS.
From the users' perspective, smart DBSS is a novel mode of transportation service, providing bicycle rental and related services, and users' acceptance and sustained use of smart DBSS will determine the future of this traffic model. Some researchers have argued that customer loyalty is a vital predictor of users' sustained behaviors relating to a particular product or service (Khatibi, Ismail, & Thyagarajan, 2002; Kotler & Singh, 1981). Although Chen (2016a, 2016b) confirmed that perceived pleasure and perceived green value can motivate green loyalty in the Taiwanese public bike-sharing context, what factors trigger perceptive values and perceived pleasure remains unclear. According to the theory of quality-satisfaction-loyalty (QSL), service quality is a crucial factor strongly affecting satisfaction, which, in turn, stimulates customer loyalty (Anderson & Fornell, 2000; Chou & Kim, 2009). Investigating the impact of perceived quality on public BSS adoption intention, Hazen et al. (2015) contextualized the perceived usefulness construct as perceived quality, which is only one part of service quality. Thus, the role of service quality needs further investigation in the smart DBSS context. According to studies by Chou and Lu (2009) and Oliver (2010), customer satisfaction and value are two of the most effective factors used to create customer loyalty through excellent services and quality products. However, the factors triggering perceived pleasure and perceived green value, and the mechanisms that function among service quality, perceived green value, customer satisfaction, perceived pleasure, and loyalty, remain unclear in the new generation of bike sharing. Although Kuo, Wu, and Deng (2009) and Chou and Lu (2009) verified the intermediary role of perceived value and customer satisfaction between service quality and user behavior intention, the intermediary role of perceived pleasure remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to fill this important research gap and propose a comprehensive research model in order to understand customer loyalty to smart DBSS.
This study makes some significant contributions to enriching the existing literature. First, it provides a new perspective with which to examine consumer loyalty behavior in a smart DBSS context. Second, this study identifies the role of service quality as an important stimulus which can motivate perceived green value, customer satisfaction, and perceived pleasure. Third, the study confirms that perceived pleasure not only has an effect on customer loyalty, but also acts as an excellent mediator which can pass the effect of service quality on to customer loyalty. Fourth, our research provides empirical evidence for smart DBSS providers to promote the adoption of green transport and to strengthen customer loyalty to smart DBSS.
The remainder of this article is arranged as follows. First, the theoretical background regarding smart DBSS user behavior is presented. Second, our research model and hypotheses are proposed. Next, the research methodology and the results are presented. Finally, we discuss the implications of the findings and suggest directions for future research.
2 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development
2.1 Smart DBSS and continuance intention
The first generation of bike-sharing programs, namely the "white bike," emerged in Amsterdam in 1965, and so the history of bike-sharing programs spans more than half a century (Shaheen et al., 2010). White bikes were unlocked, free-of-charge, and for public use. However, they survived for only a short time due to a series of problems, such as theft and vandalism. Overcoming the shortcomings of the first generation of BSS, the second generation of BSS was proposed, which included the introduction of docking stations for locking, payment, renting, and return of the bikes. However, because there was no time limit on bike use and anonymous cash payment, the bicycle theft problem was still not completely solved. Thus, the second generation of BSS also quickly failed. With the rapid development of information technology (IT), the third generation of BSS emerged a few years later. These BSS used cashless payment, real-name registration, and dynamic pricing schemes via new applications of IT, which overcame the disadvantages of the two previous generations of BSS (Shen et al., 2018). Thus, the third generation of BSS has experienced dramatic growth and development throughout Asia, Europe, and the US (Shaheen et al., 2010). Currently, more than 600 public bicycle programs are successfully running across the world, of which approximately 162 are in China (Institute for Transportation & Development Policy--ITDP, 2015). However, the usage of these systems is still not high for various reasons, such as inconvenient locations, imbalanced capacity of bike stations, damage, and theft (Chen, 2016a; Fishman et al., 2014).
In 2015, integrating the advantages of the sharing economy, the internet of thing, and bicycle manufacturing, smart DBSS (fourth generation BSS) were born in China. Compared to traditional bike-sharing programs, smart DBSS integrate mobile payment and GPS tracking, which greatly increases their ease of use and management. Bikes report their locations to the central server through an embedded GPS sensor and communication module. A user can easily locate a potential bike through the mobile app. After finding a bike, the user can unlock the bike by scanning the QR code and then ride. The bikes can be parked anywhere that allows bike parking. Smart DBSS are mostly deployed in places around major commercial hubs, subway stations, and campuses to solve the "last mile" problem. As a new green traffic...
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