Identifying influential attributes in freight route/mode choice decisions: a content analysis

The adoption of Stated Preference (SP) techniques in freight route/mode choice studies requires the identification of the major modal attributes which influence these decisions. While there is a need to limit the number of attributes and attribute levels in order that the number of combinations (decision alternatives) presented to respondents is at a manageable level, it is also important that these variables are accurately identified and specified. In the majority of empirical studies, methods employed for performing this task have tended to revolve around either focus groups, interviews, unscientific syntheses of previous studies or even merely the feel or hypotheses of the researchers. This paper explains and presents the application of a content analysis methodology to the (mostly Western) freight route/mode choice literature, thereby providing a formal approach to the identification and justification of the attributes that are to be utilised within (Stated Preference) SP experiments. The implications for attribute selection in empirical studies are discussed, with particular reference to the Eastern European context.