IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/pubtra/v10y2018i1d10.1007_s12469-017-0168-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Formative and reflective measurement models for analysing transit service quality

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Eboli

    (University of Calabria)

  • Carmen Forciniti

    (University of Calabria)

  • Gabriella Mazzulla

    (University of Calabria)

Abstract

Transit service quality is a complex concept depending on different service aspects, such as service frequency and punctuality, comfort, cleanliness, information and so on. Transit service quality is generally measured through the satisfaction of the users with the service. There are relationships between the overall service quality and the different transit service aspects, and between each aspect and the characteristics describing it. Structural equation models represent a useful tool for exploring this kind of relationship and determining the influence of the different service characteristics on service quality. An investigated issue concerning structural equation models is the contrast between the formative and the reflective approach. The structural models proposed for measuring transit service quality have followed a reflective approach, according to which the latent variable (or the service aspect) is the cause of the observed measures (or the service factors describing the service aspect); but in this paper we investigate on the fact that formative variables could be considered to model the relationship among the service quality characteristics, supposing that the observed measures, which represent the service characteristics, form the latent construct. The findings from the comparison between the results obtained by applying the two different approaches suggest that the reflective model is surely more suitable for describing the phenomenon of passenger satisfaction with transit service quality. However, we retain that if some service aspects can be more conveniently investigated through a reflective approach, other service aspects could follow a formative approach in a better way.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Eboli & Carmen Forciniti & Gabriella Mazzulla, 2018. "Formative and reflective measurement models for analysing transit service quality," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 107-127, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:pubtra:v:10:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s12469-017-0168-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s12469-017-0168-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12469-017-0168-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12469-017-0168-9?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. Sebastian Bamberg & Peter Schmidt, 1998. "Changing Travel-Mode Choice As Rational Choice:," Rationality and Society, , vol. 10(2), pages 223-252, May.
    2. Coltman, Tim & Devinney, Timothy M. & Midgley, David F. & Venaik, Sunil, 2008. "Formative versus reflective measurement models: Two applications of formative measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(12), pages 1250-1262, December.
    3. de Abreu e Silva, João & Morency, Catherine & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2012. "Using structural equations modeling to unravel the influence of land use patterns on travel behavior of workers in Montreal," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1252-1264.
    4. Veronique Van Acker & Frank Witlox & Bert Van Wee, 2007. "The Effects of the Land Use System on Travel Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 331-353, May.
    5. 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.
    6. de Oña, Juan & de Oña, Rocío & Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2013. "Perceived service quality in bus transit service: A structural equation approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 219-226.
    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. Maria Grazia Bellizzi & Luigi dell’Olio & Laura Eboli & Carmen Forciniti & Gabriella Mazzulla, 2020. "Passengers’ Expectations on Airlines’ Services: Design of a Stated Preference Survey and Preliminary Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Allen, Jaime & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Rosell, Jordi, 2019. "Effect of a major network reform on bus transit satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 310-333.
    3. Amirali Soltanpour & Mahmoud Mesbah & Meeghat Habibian, 2020. "Customer satisfaction in urban rail: a study on transferability of structural equation models," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 123-146, March.
    4. Allen, Jaime & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2019. "Understanding public transport satisfaction: Using Maslow's hierarchy of (transit) needs," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 75-94.
    5. Allen, Jaime & Bellizzi, Maria Grazia & Eboli, Laura & Forciniti, Carmen & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2020. "Service quality in a mid-sized air terminal: A SEM-MIMIC ordinal probit accounting for travel, sociodemographic, and user-type heterogeneity," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Bellizzi, Maria Grazia & Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella & Postorino, Maria Nadia, 2022. "Classification trees for analysing highly educated people satisfaction with airlines’ services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 199-211.
    7. Sam, Enoch F. & Brijs, Kris & Daniels, Stijn & Brijs, Tom & Wets, Geert, 2020. "Testing the convergent- and predictive validity of a multi-dimensional belief-based scale for attitude towards personal safety on public bus/minibus for long-distance trips in Ghana: A SEM analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 67-79.
    8. Corrado Crocetta & Laura Antonucci & Rosanna Cataldo & Roberto Galasso & Maria Gabriella Grassia & Carlo Natale Lauro & Marina Marino, 2021. "Higher-Order PLS-PM Approach for Different Types of Constructs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 725-754, April.

    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. Sarker, Rumana Islam & Kaplan, Sigal & Mailer, Markus & Timmermans, Harry J.P., 2019. "Applying affective event theory to explain transit users’ reactions to service disruptions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 593-605.
    2. Bowen Zhou & Jieling Jin & Helai Huang & Yuanchang Deng, 2023. "Exploring the Macro Economic and Transport Influencing Factors of Urban Public Transport Mode Share: A Bayesian Structural Equation Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-11, January.
    3. Jahanshahi, Kaveh & Jin, Ying & Williams, Ian, 2015. "Direct and indirect influences on employed adults’ travel in the UK: New insights from the National Travel Survey data 2002–2010," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 288-306.
    4. 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).
    5. Xuemei Fu & Zhicai Juan, 2017. "An integrated framework to jointly model decisions of activity time allocation and work-related travel," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 689-705, August.
    6. van Lierop, Dea & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "Enjoying loyalty: The relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in public transit," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 50-59.
    7. Dea Lierop & Ahmed El-Geneidy, 2018. "Is having a positive image of public transit associated with travel satisfaction and continued transit usage? An exploratory study of bus transit," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 241-256, August.
    8. Kaveh Jahanshahi & Ying Jin, 2021. "Identification and mapping of spatial variations in travel choices through combining structural equation modelling and latent class analysis: findings for Great Britain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1329-1359, June.
    9. François Sprumont & Ariane Scheffer & Geoffrey Caruso & Eric Cornelis & Francesco Viti, 2022. "Quantifying the Relation between Activity Pattern Complexity and Car Use Using a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Jonas De Vos & Long Cheng & Frank Witlox, 2021. "Do changes in the residential location lead to changes in travel attitudes? A structural equation modeling approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 2011-2034, August.
    11. 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.
    12. Diep Ngoc Su & Duy Quy Nguyen-Phuoc & Lester W. Johnson, 2021. "Effects of perceived safety, involvement and perceived service quality on loyalty intention among ride-sourcing passengers," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 369-393, February.
    13. Najaf, Pooya & Thill, Jean-Claude & Zhang, Wenjia & Fields, Milton Greg, 2018. "City-level urban form and traffic safety: A structural equation modeling analysis of direct and indirect effects," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 257-270.
    14. Bhumika Gupta & Salil K. Sen, 2019. "Carbon Capture Usage and Storage with Scale-up: Energy Finance through Bricolage Deploying the Co-integration Methodology," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 146-153.
    15. Rajesh Srivastava & Thomas Tang, 2015. "Coping Intelligence: Coping Strategies and Organizational Commitment Among Boundary Spanning Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 525-542, September.
    16. Jinwoo Park & Jungsoo Lee, 2018. "Spatial Pattern and Factor Analyses for Forest Sustainable Development Goals within South Korea’s Civilian Control Zone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    17. Zwerts, Enid & Allaert, Georges & Janssens, Davy & Wets, Geert & Witlox, Frank, 2010. "How children view their travel behaviour: a case study from Flanders (Belgium)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 702-710.
    18. Deng, Qian (Claire) & Messinger, Paul R., 2022. "Dimensions of brand-extension fit," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 764-787.
    19. Grichnik, Dietmar & Smeja, Alexander & Welpe, Isabell, 2010. "The importance of being emotional: How do emotions affect entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation and exploitation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 15-29, October.
    20. Ding, Yu & Lu, Huapu, 2016. "Activity participation as a mediating variable to analyze the effect of land use on travel behavior: A structural equation modeling approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-28.

    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:spr:pubtra:v:10:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s12469-017-0168-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.