IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v25y2013icp233-243.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards a holistic approach to the travel experience: A qualitative study of bus transportation

Author

Listed:
  • Carreira, Rui
  • Patrício, Lia
  • Natal Jorge, Renato
  • Magee, Chris
  • Van Eikema Hommes, Qi

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative study with 49 bus passengers in two types of mid-distance journeys: (1) experience-centric trips (touristic), and (2) utilitarian trips (intercity transportation). Study results show that passenger travel experience encompasses all moments of contact with the transportation service, as well as aspects that are not in direct control of the transportation provider. The results also reveal that the travel experience involves a holistic set of customer responses that go beyond cognitive assessments, also comprising sensorial and emotional components. The comparison of the two transportation settings shows that both experience-centric and utilitarian trip passengers have a holistic view of the travel experience, although focusing on different experience drivers and customer responses. These findings indicate that transport providers and planners should pay attention to the overall customer travel experience from a holistic view, and that transportation services should be carefully designed and managed in a systemic way.

Suggested Citation

  • Carreira, Rui & Patrício, Lia & Natal Jorge, Renato & Magee, Chris & Van Eikema Hommes, Qi, 2013. "Towards a holistic approach to the travel experience: A qualitative study of bus transportation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 233-243.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:233-243
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.11.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X12001849
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.11.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abou-Zeid, Maya & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2011. "The effect of social comparisons on commute well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 345-361, May.
    2. Lu, Jin-Long & Ling, Feng-I, 2008. "Cross-cultural perspectives regarding service quality and satisfaction in Chinese cross-strait airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 16-19.
    3. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Salomon, Ilan, 2001. "How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 695-719, September.
    4. Gentile, Chiara & Spiller, Nicola & Noci, Giuliano, 2007. "How to Sustain the Customer Experience:: An Overview of Experience Components that Co-create Value With the Customer," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 395-410, October.
    5. Nathanail, Eftihia, 2008. "Measuring the quality of service for passengers on the hellenic railways," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 48-66, January.
    6. Arnould, Eric J & Price, Linda L, 1993. "River Magic: Extraordinary Experience and the Extended Service Encounter," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(1), pages 24-45, June.
    7. Salomon, Ilan & Mokhtarian, Patricia, 1998. "What Happens When Mobility-Inclined Market Segments Face Accessibility-Enhancing Policies?," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2x75525j, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    8. dell'Olio, Luigi & Ibeas, Angel & Cecin, Patricia, 2011. "The quality of service desired by public transport users," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 217-227, January.
    9. Stradling, Stephen & Carreno, Michael & Rye, Tom & Noble, Allyson, 2007. "Passenger perceptions and the ideal urban bus journey experience," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 283-292, July.
    10. Janet Neal & M. Sirgy & Muzaffer Uysal, 2004. "Measuring the Effect of Tourism Services on Travelers’ Quality of Life: Further Validation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 69(3), pages 243-277, December.
    11. Beirão, Gabriela & Sarsfield Cabral, J.A., 2007. "Understanding attitudes towards public transport and private car: A qualitative study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 478-489, November.
    12. Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2011. "A methodology for evaluating transit service quality based on subjective and objective measures from the passenger's point of view," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 172-181, January.
    13. Ory, David T. & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "When is getting there half the fun? Modeling the liking for travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 97-123.
    14. Guiver, Jo & Lumsdon, Les & Weston, Richard & Ferguson, Maggie, 2007. "Do buses help meet tourism objectives? The contribution and potential of scheduled buses in rural destination areas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 275-282, July.
    15. Oliver, Richard L, 1993. "Cognitive, Affective, and Attribute BAses of the Satisfaction Response," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(3), pages 418-430, December.
    16. Herrmann, Andreas & Huber, Frank & Braunstein, Christine, 2000. "Market-driven product and service design: Bridging the gap between customer needs, quality management, and customer satisfaction," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 77-96, June.
    17. Verhoef, Peter C. & Lemon, Katherine N. & Parasuraman, A. & Roggeveen, Anne & Tsiros, Michael & Schlesinger, Leonard A., 2009. "Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 31-41.
    18. Anable, Jillian & Gatersleben, Birgitta, 2005. "All work and no play? The role of instrumental and affective factors in work and leisure journeys by different travel modes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 163-181.
    19. Chen, Fang-Yuan & Chang, Yu-Hern, 2005. "Examining airline service quality from a process perspective," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 79-87.
    20. Paulley, Neil & Balcombe, Richard & Mackett, Roger & Titheridge, Helena & Preston, John & Wardman, Mark & Shires, Jeremy & White, Peter, 2006. "The demand for public transport: The effects of fares, quality of service, income and car ownership," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 295-306, July.
    21. Neal, Janet D. & Sirgy, M. Joseph & Uysal, Muzaffer, 1999. "The Role of Satisfaction with Leisure Travel/ Tourism Services and Experience in Satisfaction with Leisure Life and Overall Life," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 153-163, March.
    22. Bodil Sandén & Jonas Matthing & Bo Edvardsson, 2006. "New Service Development: Learning from and with Customers," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Bo Edvardsson & Anders Gustafsson & Per Kristensson & Peter Magnusson & Jonas Matthing (ed.), Involving Customers In New Service Development, chapter 6, pages 99-126, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    23. Richins, Marsha L, 1997. "Measuring Emotions in the Consumption Experience," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 127-146, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ittamalla, Rajesh & Srinivas Kumar, Daruri Venkata, 2021. "Determinants of holistic passenger experience in public transportation: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Hoffmann, Christin & Abraham, Charles & Skippon, Stephen M. & White, Mathew P., 2018. "Cognitive construction of travel modes among high-mileage car users and non-car users – A Repertory Grid analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 216-233.
    3. Hickman, Robin & Chen, Chia-Lin & Chow, Andy & Saxena, Sharad, 2015. "Improving interchanges in China: the experiential phenomenon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 175-186.
    4. Doody, Brendan J., 2020. "Becoming ‘a Londoner’: Migrants’ experiences and habits of everyday (im)mobilities over the life course," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Chauhan, Vivek & Gupta, Akshay & Parida, Manoranjan, 2021. "Demystifying service quality of Multimodal Transportation Hub (MMTH) through measuring users’ satisfaction of public transport," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 47-60.
    6. Carreira, Rui & Patrício, Lia & Natal Jorge, Renato & Magee, Chris, 2014. "Understanding the travel experience and its impact on attitudes, emotions and loyalty towards the transportation provider–A quantitative study with mid-distance bus trips," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 35-46.
    7. Lu, Ying & Prato, Carlo G. & Sipe, Neil & Kimpton, Anthony & Corcoran, Jonathan, 2022. "The role of household modality style in first and last mile travel mode choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 95-109.
    8. Friman, Margareta & Gärling, Tommy & Ettema, Dick & Olsson, Lars E., 2017. "How does travel affect emotional well-being and life satisfaction?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 170-180.
    9. Eldeeb, Gamal & Sears, Sean & Mohamed, Moataz, 2023. "What do users want from transit? Qualitative analysis of current and potential users' perceptions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    10. Park, Keunhyun & Farb, Anna & Chen, Shuolei, 2021. "First-/last-mile experience matters: The influence of the built environment on satisfaction and loyalty among public transit riders," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 32-42.
    11. Sara Ramos & Paula Vicente & Ana M. Passos & Patrícia Costa & Elizabeth Reis, 2019. "Perceptions of the Public Transport Service as a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: A Qualitative Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-16, May.
    12. Silva, Joaquim & Sá, Elisabete Sampaio & Escadas, Marco & Carvalho, Joana, 2021. "The influence of ambient scent on the passengers’ experience, emotions and behavioral intentions: An experimental study in a Public Bus service," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 88-98.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carreira, Rui & Patrício, Lia & Natal Jorge, Renato & Magee, Chris, 2014. "Understanding the travel experience and its impact on attitudes, emotions and loyalty towards the transportation provider–A quantitative study with mid-distance bus trips," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 35-46.
    2. Ittamalla, Rajesh & Srinivas Kumar, Daruri Venkata, 2021. "Determinants of holistic passenger experience in public transportation: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Aydin, Nezir & Celik, Erkan & Gumus, Alev Taskin, 2015. "A hierarchical customer satisfaction framework for evaluating rail transit systems of Istanbul," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 61-81.
    4. Zha, Dongmei & Marvi, Reza & Foroudi, Pantea, 2023. "Synthesizing the customer experience concept: A multimodularity approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    5. Patrick A. Singleton & Kelly J. Clifton, 2021. "Towards measures of affective and eudaimonic subjective well-being in the travel domain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 303-336, February.
    6. Hickman, Robin & Chen, Chia-Lin & Chow, Andy & Saxena, Sharad, 2015. "Improving interchanges in China: the experiential phenomenon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 175-186.
    7. Chandra Mahapatra, Subas & Bellamkonda, Raja Shekhar, 2023. "Higher expectations of passengers do really sense: Development and validation a multiple scale-FliQual for air transport service quality," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Celik, Erkan & Aydin, Nezir & Gumus, Alev Taskin, 2014. "A multiattribute customer satisfaction evaluation approach for rail transit network: A real case study for Istanbul, Turkey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 283-293.
    9. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2017. "Travel satisfaction revisited. On the pivotal role of travel satisfaction in conceptualising a travel behaviour process," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 364-373.
    10. Wan, Dan & Kamga, Camille & Liu, Jun & Sugiura, Aaron & Beaton, Eric B., 2016. "Rider perception of a “light” Bus Rapid Transit system - The New York City Select Bus Service," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 41-55.
    11. Hernandez, Sara & Monzon, Andres & de Oña, Rocío, 2016. "Urban transport interchanges: A methodology for evaluating perceived quality," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 31-43.
    12. Ory, David T, 2007. "Structural Equation Modeling of Relative Desired Travel Amounts," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt8mj659fp, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    13. Ganji, S.S. & Ahangar, A.N. & Awasthi, Anjali & Jamshidi Bandari, Smaneh, 2021. "Psychological analysis of intercity bus passenger satisfaction using Q methodology," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 345-363.
    14. Shreya Das & Debapratim Pandit, 2013. "Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 402-420, July.
    15. Christian Homburg & Danijel Jozić & Christina Kuehnl, 2017. "Customer experience management: toward implementing an evolving marketing concept," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 377-401, May.
    16. Urbanek, Anna, 2021. "Potential of modal shift from private cars to public transport: A survey on the commuters’ attitudes and willingness to switch – A case study of Silesia Province, Poland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. Andre Carrel & Raja Sengupta & Joan L. Walker, 2017. "The San Francisco Travel Quality Study: tracking trials and tribulations of a transit taker," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 643-679, July.
    18. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-416 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Suman, Hemant K. & Bolia, Nomesh B. & Tiwari, Geetam, 2017. "Comparing public bus transport service attributes in Delhi and Mumbai: Policy implications for improving bus services in Delhi," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 63-74.
    20. Ory, David Terrance, 2007. "Structural Equation Modeling of Relative Desired Travel Amounts," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7rb3x52m, University of California Transportation Center.
    21. Paula Vasquez-Henriquez & Eduardo Graells-Garrido & Diego Caro, 2020. "Tweets on the Go: Gender Differences in Transport Perception and Its Discussion on Social Media," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:233-243. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.